City Connects in Salem Public Schools
The City Connects model
Every student, every teacher, every year
City Connects is an evidence-based system that utilizes the existing structures present in schools and communities. A City Connects Coordinator meets with each classroom teacher and other school staff to review every student in a school every year, discussing each child’s strengths and needs in the areas of academics, social/emotional/behavioral growth, health, and family. Each student is then linked to the unique set of services and enrichments, available in the school or community, that address his or her unique strengths and areas of need. The Coordinator cultivates partnerships with community agencies, serving as a point of contact for the school. Coordinators collaborate closely with families and facilitate access to supports and enrichments.
The story of our partnership
City Connects launched in Salem Public Schools in the fall of 2017 in collaboration with the Education Redesign Lab at Harvard University and its Children’s Cabinet in the city of Salem. As we continue in our fifth year of partnership, City Connects has entered a stable and sustained phase of implementation. City Connects serves children and families in Salem preschool, elementary, and middle school settings, and has built deep connections in the Salem community. In the first year of implementing our systemic practice in schools, Coordinators established partnerships with over 100 local community agencies. By the spring of 2020, the number of community partners providing supports and services to students had grown to 193. Salem’s diverse community partners have been critical to our success supporting students. When surveyed in the spring of 2020, community partners reported especially high levels of satisfaction with City Connects: 100% think that City Connects is effective at identifying the needs of the students they work with and at matching students to their services.
Salem Public School City Connects Coordinators
| School | Coordinator | Contact Info |
| Director of Multitiered Systems of Support | Mia Riccio | mriccio@salemk12.org Cell: 978-522-0124 |
| Early Childhood | Erika Griffin | egriffin@salemk12.org 978-740-1181 Cell: 978-587-4943 |
| Bentley Academy | Genevieve Nutt | gnutt@salemk12.org Cell: 781-732-0154 |
| Bates Elementary | Sari Rudolph | srudolph@salemk12.org 978-740-1250 Cell: 978-778-8423 |
| Carlton Innovation School | Liz Yoder | eyoder@salemk12.org 978-740-1280 Cell: 978-778-0069 |
| Horace Mann Laboratory School | Elizabeth Planje | eplanje@salemk12.org 978-740-1290 Cell: 978-778-5134 |
| Witchcraft Heights Elementary School | Heather Perry | hperry@salemk12.org 978-740-1271 Cell: 978-288-9110 |
| Saltonstall School | Joy Richmond Smith | Jrichmond-smith@salemk12.org 978-740-1297 Cell: 978-778-5429 |
| Collins Middle School | Johanna Rodriguez Christina Sakelakos | jrodriguez@salemk12.org Cell: 781-771-0660 cSakelakos@salemk12.org Cell: 781-771-5316 |