SALEM - The school year begins today with a new choice for middle school.

Saltonstall, the much-heralded kindergarten-through-grade-five school with a longer day and classes through July, has added a sixth grade this year. This is the first step in its evolution into the city's second kindergarten-through-grade-eight school.

Saltonstall has become one more middle school option in a system that, just five years ago, had only Collins Middle School. Now there are four choices - Collins; Saltonstall; Nathaniel Bowditch, a K-8 school with a Spanish-English program; and Salem Academy Charter School.

Saltonstall will add a seventh grade next year, and an eighth grade the following school year.

"We don't think of it as a middle school," Saltonstall Principal Peg Howard said. "It's really a K-8, which is a different animal."

The traditional middle school has grades six through eight.

Whatever Saltonstall is called, it represents choice, which appears to be what parents want.

"I've always thought it was good to have another choice - I love choices," said Yania Lora, whose son is in Saltonstall's first class of sixth-graders.

Salem Academy Charter School, a public school outside the traditional public school system, continues to expand into a secondary school for grades six to 12. It is not there yet but adds an 11th grade this year and a lot more space.

The four-year-old school pushed through a few more walls at the sprawling Shetland Park complex this summer to add two science labs, two more classrooms, several offices and a new kitchen. The science labs were funded through a $125,000 grant from the Read Family Trust, which supports science programs in other city schools.

The charter school also adds sports teams this year - the first girls and boys soccer teams are practicing now. The school got a jump on everyone by opening last week.

Although the grade structure at Salem High School remains unchanged, the school does not.

The $65 million renovation of the high school continued all summer, with the custodial staff working through the Labor Day weekend to get the school ready.

"It's clean and ready to go," Superintendent William Cameron Jr said. "They did a really good job."

The only adverse impact of construction, Cameron said, will be felt in the cafeteria.

"It won't be open to serve hot meals," he said. "We will have cold (lunches) the first two days."

Construction will continue through the school year and finish next summer.

At Saltonstall, this will be a year of major changes. In addition to the new sixth grade and planning for a seventh grade next year, the grade structure of the school was completely reconfigured. The multiage classrooms, which put two grades into one room, have new grade pairings.

It may sound like nothing more than a numbers game, but it meant new curriculums with new content and a sharp learning curve for teachers.

"It was a big change," Principal Peg Howard said, "and it took many meetings and a lot of planning time."

About 30 of last year's 39 fifth-graders decided to stay at Saltonstall. They make up about three-quarters of the new sixth-grade class.

"We're excited because many of these children have been with us all along," Howard said. "We also have some newcomers."

Three Salem schools have new principals - Phil Burke is at Carlton School, Nancy Pelletier at Bentley and Mark Higgins at Witchcraft Heights.

MIDDLE SCHOOL OPTIONS

School Grades Enrollment

Collins 6-8 675

Nathaniel Bowditch K-8 500

Saltonstall K-6* 300

Salem Academy 6-11** 250

Salem High 9-12 1,325

* Saltonstall will be a K-8 school in 2009.

** Salem Academy Charter School will have grades six through 12 next year.