Any Child Welcome: Salem Public Schools Summer Eats is Nourishing Greater Salem
SPS Food and Nutrition Services reaches 10,000 meals served in the first four weeks of summer
SALEM (July 24, 2025) – By Friday, July 18, the Salem Public Schools Summer Eats program, had served more than 10,000 meals to children and adults of Greater Salem.
The two folks behind Summer Eats – Michaela Short, Program Director of SPS Food and Nutrition Services, and Robby Armstrong ’05, Operations Director, along with their staff and interns – aren’t resting on their laurels. They both believe there is a greater need; that they can be serving more meals.
“We are over what our participation was last summer, but we know there is more of a need based on the amount of meals we serve during the school year,” Ms. Short said. “We want more Salem families, and even those families in surrounding areas, to know that this wonderful resource is available to them.”
Last summer, SPS Food and Nutrition had served 25,992 meals to children and families of Greater Salem.
This year, Summer Eats has added two more open sites: Now Salem adults, along with children, can enjoy dinner Monday through Friday (4-6 p.m.) at Mary Jane Lee Park, from June 24-Aug. 22.
In addition, lunch is served to children up to age 18 at nine different sites – at flexible times – in Salem Monday through Friday:
- Salem Common, 11:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
- Palmer’s Cove, 11:00-12:45 p.m.
- Collins Cove, 11:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
- Loring Towers, 11:00-11:30 a.m.
- Rainbow Terrace, 11:40 a.m.-12:10 p.m.
- Salem Public Library, 1:40-2:00 p.m.
- Forest River Pool, 12:20-12:50 p.m.
- Winter Island, 2:10-2:30 p.m.
- Salem Heights, 1:00-1:30 p.m.
This year’s edition of Summer Eats began Tuesday, June 24 – nearly two weeks earlier than previous years – and will commence Friday, Aug. 22, resulting in 15 more days of service to its summer calendar.
Summer Eats is more than lunch and dinner. For each week, there is a theme: Independence Day Week (June 30-July 3), Shark Week (July 7-11), Bug-themed week (July 14-18) and Luau Week (July 21-25) among them. There is pick-up basketball and volleyball as well as lawn games and theme-related arts and crafts each day.
The Summer Eats program carries to core tenets of the District’s Strategic Plan, particularly the core principles of centering belonging and strengthening the District’s foundation.
“We reviewed last year’s program and what we learned from this past school year and saw the need for an earlier start date,” said Mr. Armstrong. “We strive for our program to be more than a free meal. We want our families to feel welcome and to have a fun, enjoyable experience.”
About Salem Public Schools
Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district in Salem, Mass., a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history. Our leaders and our teachers are all passionate about education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement with equity and social-emotional needs as the lens we view all of our work through. We respect and value the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of our students and their families, and have a strong commitment to the Salem community. Salem Public Schools staff serve all of our students, regardless of ability or language. Salem Public Schools enrolls approximately 4,000 students across its eleven schools.
