It was different when it opened its doors 11 years ago with a longer school day and a school year that went right through July.
Now, Saltonstall wants to extend that difference for a few more years. A committee of parents and staff has submitted a proposal to make Saltonstall a K-8 school by adding grades six, seven and eight. In effect, it would become the School Department's third middle school in the city.
Although the same idea was rejected by the School Committee six years ago, the timing may be better now. Charter schools are up and running and are drawing away traditional Salem public school students.
"Parents are looking for alternatives," said Artie Sullivan, a Saltonstall parent, "and those alternatives are coming up in the charter schools."
Superintendent of Schools Larry Callahan will make a recommendation to the school board in a few weeks. Although his investigation is not finished, Callahan appears to be leaning in Saltonstall's direction.
"I think we need to have options available for both parents and kids," the superintendent said. "If we do go to a K-8 Saltonstall, it will give parents a choice between two (small) K-8 schools - one being dual language and the other being a year-round, extended-day school. Those are two very attractive offerings."
Until a few years ago, Salem had only one middle school - Collins. The Nathaniel Bowditch, a K-8 school, opened in 2001 with a unique program offering students classes in both Spanish and English. Until then, the program had stopped at the fifth grade.
The addition of a K-8 Saltonstall would give parents and students a third choice - an extended-day, extended-year school with multi-age classrooms and a curriculum based on the theory that different children learn in different ways.
Charter school draw
Although not cited as a primary reason for the move, school officials are keenly aware they are losing students to the Salem Academy Charter School, which opened three years ago, and to other charter and private schools.
That issue is even addressed in the Saltonstall proposal.
"It is not a secret that many Salem public elementary school students leave Salem between grades 3 and 5 to attend either charter or private schools in communities near Salem," the proposal states.
"A significant number of Saltonstall students are among those who leave the Salem schools due to their preference for a small middle-school environment. Based on survey data that we have obtained from current Saltonstall families, we feel that a Saltonstall K-8 would reduce the numbers of students leaving Salem for other options."
For the record, the Salem Academy Charter School, the main draw for Saltonstall families, is a public school and is located in Salem - inside Shetland Properties on the waterfront.
Although the numbers vary from year to year, a significant number of Saltonstall students go on to charter schools. Last year, for example, about 20 percent of Saltonstall fifth-graders went on to the Salem Academy Charter School.
While a K-8 Saltonstall is a new proposal for 2006, this is not the first time the idea has been explored. It came up several years ago and was rejected by both a citywide task force and the school board. Questions were raised about the Saltonstall curriculum and whether it represented as much of an educational alternative as a dual-language school. The supporters of a K-8 Saltonstall and a new school board will have to make the case that a lot has changed in six years.
One of the differences between this proposal and the last one may be the cost. Rather than build an expensive addition, the new plan is to use the current Saltonstall building by reducing the number of students entering kindergarten. If the number of classes in each grade is reduced, there will be room for the three extra grades, officials say.
Keeping it small
Saltonstall, which has about 250 students, wants to maintain a "small-school environment," one of the major appeals of this proposal. By reducing the size of each grade, the number of students is not expected to increase even if it goes to a K-8 school.
Collins Middle School, by contrast, has about 770 students, or about 500 more than Saltonstall. To offset its size, Collins is broken into three "wharves" or sections - each about the size of Saltonstall. The K-8 Nathaniel Bowditch School has just under 500 students.
Julie Whitlow, a Saltonstall parent and the lead writer on the proposal, says there is something special at Saltonstall that families want to keep alive for three more years. That something special, she said, has a lot to do with the 250 parent and community volunteers, and special events like "stew day," where each class contributes a different ingredient to a community soup. It's all part of what the school calls "Saltonstall Pride."
Making Saltonstall a middle school, she says, would extend a positive experience in a close-knit community at an important time in children's lives.
"Our community and our staff don't want to see it end at these critical years," she said.
Principal Peg Howard, who was a member of the school board that rejected the middle school proposal six years ago, says times are different now. A K-8 Saltonstall, she said, would be one more choice at a time when parents are thirsting for choices. Saltonstall, she said, fits that bill.
"I've been in education for over 30 years," said the former Marblehead public schools curriculum director, "and there is something different here."
READER BOXES
Life after Saltonstall
Last year's fifth-grade class at Saltonstall School had 62 students. Here's where they went to sixth grade:
Collins Middle School: 47*
Salem Academy Charter School: 12
Nathaniel Bowditch School: 1
Brookwood School, Manchester-by-the-Sea: 2
Marblehead Community Charter School: 0**
*This figure represents students who went on to Collins or moved out of the city.
** Four fourth-graders at Saltonstall left last school year for Marblehead Charter School, a grade 4-8 middle school.
Source: Saltonstall School
Saltonstall parents survey:
If Saltonstall becomes a K-8 school, how likely would you be to keep your child at Saltonstall?
Highly likely 79%
Likely 12%
Unlikely 4%
Highly Unlikely 1%
If Saltonstall does not become a K-8 school, where would you prefer your child to attend middle school?
Collins Middle School 22%
Nathaniel Bowditch 21%
Salem Academy Charter 24%
Marblehead Charter 17%
Private School 11%
Parochial School 3%
Other 2%
Note: The survey, done last spring, is based on responses from 75 percent of Saltonstall School families.
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