2014-2015 High School & Middle School Registration Information

Upper Elementary and William Lynch Elementary Registration: 
From 9:00 to 2:00 Monday, Aug. 4th and Tuesday, Aug. 5th

Building Project - The End is in Sight! 
by Steve Carvajal

The excitement is building, as is the stress, as we near the completion of the building project.  What has been done is and will be simply amazing.  There has been so much work that it is hard to imagine. Between moving grades from the lower to the upper, the upper to the middle school, the middle school to the high school, and from in the high school to the new classrooms, and all the construction, it is mind boggling.

The new construction is nearly 95% complete with just a few things left to finish.  Sidewalks, trim, flooring, touch up painting, and some minor construction.  It should be completely finished by August 1st. 

The remodeling is in full swing and the goal is also the 1st of August.  When students come back they will see that every square foot of the middle school to be, has been painted, a remodeled library, new tile, new lockers, new restrooms, a new cafeteria, new doors and frames, and more. The high school has had nearly all the classrooms painted as well, the halls painted, new tile, new doors, new classrooms, new restrooms, a new library addition, and more.  The last things to be completed will be the connectors to each building and the high school library addition.  Also being completed are the security cameras, security doors, fire alarms and pull stations, along with the new entries into each building.

There is still work to be done and we are planning a big cleanup day for anyone that is willing to help for a few hours on August 2nd.  There is so much dust throughout the libraries and some of the classrooms from all the demo and drywall work.  We are still trying to get floors done and let the dozens of workers still working throughout the buildings get their work done before we start letting people in every day.  We are planning an open house for August 12th from 5:30pm until 8:00pm.  We will be serving hot dogs and coke to the visitors.  Enjoy the rest of your summer and we look forward to seeing you at open house!

Middle School Floors

Surplus Property Information

Surplus Property Notice
List of Surplus Property

Summer School 2014 At Upper Elementary

June 12, 2014 -- The Salem Upper Elementary 6th/7th summer school students have had a busy few weeks.  Some of their projects of community service and fun have included:  mulching and cleaning up the campus grounds, helping with recycling, helping teachers move classrooms, traveling to the Dent County Museum for a little history, building businesses and allowing the other summer school classes to come enjoy their businesses and the goods that they provided, and volunteering their time to work in the Community Garden.  A special thanks goes out to this great group of kids for helping our school and community in many ways these past few weeks. 

High School Construction!

Salem Upper Elementary Tiger Choir

May 29, 2014 -- On Monday, May 12th the Tiger Choir of Salem Upper Elementary School presented “Broadway Beat”.  The performance included musical highlights from over a century of song and dance. Broadway shows represented in the revue were “Hairspray,” “Little Johnny Jones,” “The Music Man,” “The Sound of Music,” “The Lion King,” “Rent,” and “Grease.”   The Tiger Choir consists of approximately 150 students in grades 3-6 performing songs, choreography and narration. The Tiger Choir is directed by Lori Beasley.

Salem Upper Elementary 
Physical Fitness Awards

May 29, 2014 -- The Salem Upper Elementary students have been fitness tested throughout the entire school year.  Students are tested in the following categories:  curl-ups, shuttle run, v-sit reach, one mile run, pull ups, and right angle push-ups.  There are two types of physical fitness awards that the students can receive:  the National Physical Fitness Award and the Presidential Physical Fitness Award.  Each fitness award is based on gender and age level.

SHS Senior 2014 Decision Day: A Huge Success! by Rebecca Fryer 

Group Picture of Seniors
May 16, 2014 -- Salem High seniors who have committed to attend a post-secondary school or full-time job next fall were all invited to the Annual College Decision day this past Friday, May 9th 2014. Eighty-three of the 149 graduating seniors were in attendance for the tailgate celebration. With the help of Missouri College Advising Corps and local Salem businesses, the seniors were able to spend their last day of high school participating in a variety of outdoor activities. From wiffel ball to a paint war there was plenty of action to build up an appetite for the delicious food donated by Town and Country Bank and U.S. Foods Service. Seniors Jake Conway and Tyler Ragsdale took charge of cooking fish, hotdogs, chicken and appetizers for all in attendance. At decision day, seniors were able to write notes of appreciation to their favorite teacher, decorate their graduation hats and soda coozies, take pictures in the photo booth, play traditional tail-gate games, and earn many college-related prizes! Special thanks to Southwest Baptist University-Salem, Mobil Gas Station, US Foods, Town and Country Bank, Karen Pruitt, Susan Jadwin, Sherri Reichard, and Jimmy Ragsdale for donating the food and prizes that made this day so special for our newest generation of Salem Alumni! 

Salem Upper Elementary Mile Run Records Broken

May 15, 2014 -- Salem Upper Elementary students participated in the Mile Run for the National and Presidential Physical Fitness Awards on May 5th and 6th.  We had forty-seven students qualify for the National Physical Fitness Award and twenty-two qualify for the Presidential Physical Fitness Award.  We are also proud to announce that we had five students break records for our building.  Congratulations to Will Toman, Mason Parker, Will Christesen, Garrett Connell and Bella Jadwin! 

Upper Elementary Wax Museum

May 15, 2014 -- The Salem Upper Elementary 6th grade students held a wax museum presentation on May 6th.   Each student researched a famous person who made a difference in the world.  The assignment required students to research information, take notes, write a three paragraph speech, revise, edit, and cite their sources using a bibliography.  After students followed the writing process, they had to memorize their speeches.   One writing focus was becoming the person they researched and writing and speaking in the style of the person they chose.  For example, a comedian would be funny or a president would be serious.

                Fifth grade students, parents and guests were invited to tour the wax museum and push buttons to make students come to life.  They learned things about professional ball players, past presidents, comedians, singers, and many other famous people they may not have been aware of prior to their tour.

Serendipity 2014
“Sweet Tooth”

May 13, 2014 -- Serendipity 2014 was another huge success thanks to the wonderful presenters, caring community, supportive staff and well behaved students.  Our theme this year was “Sweet Tooth” where every session name had to do with sweets and sugary treats.  We had forty-one presenters join us for the morning to teach our students something new and a very successful talent show in the afternoon with some unique talents, wonderful singing, skits, and dancing.  A brief word to sum up the day would be…serendipitous!

Salem Upper Elementary Literature Fair
By Tina McKee

Tina McKeeTina McKee,
6th Grade
April 30, 2014 -- The Salem Upper Elementary fifth and sixth grade students were able to show off their love of reading by hosting a Literature Fair on the evening of April 29th.  Students chose their favorite book and shared information such as:  plot, setting, characters, theme, genre, and their recommendation in a creative manner similar to a science fair board.  Book choices ranged from The Hunger Games to Hondo with a lot of variety in the middle. The evening was a great success with almost 200 students and family members in attendance. 
2013-2014 Salem Senior High Chamber Choir (Salem, MO) Performance at Nationals in Nashville, TN under the direction of Elaine Russell.
April 29, 2014 -- The SHS Chamber Singers competed in a national competition, hosted by WorldStrides Heritage Performance, in Nashville, Tenn., April 24-27. Students enjoyed a Grand Ole Opry show and backstage tour, worked with Dr. Tucker Biddlecombe of Vanderbilt University's vocal music department, and performed at the Parthenon, in addition to competing in the national competition. The choir received the following top awards at the national competition: 1. Gold Award (best in their category) 2. Adjudicators Award (judges' award for ensembles receiving a score of 95 or higher) 3. Outstanding Choral Group Award (best choral group of all choirs competing) 4. Invitation to Perform in the Festival at Carnegie Hall in New York City, in 2015-16 

Salem R-80 Mission Statement

April 25, 2014 -- Why does our organization exist?  What are we here to do together?  What is the business of our business?  These questions challenge stakeholders in our district to reflect on the fundamental purpose of our organization.  The purpose of our school district is reflected in the mission statement.  The Comprehensive School Improvement Planning Committee has been reflecting on these questions as we look to revise our district’s mission statement.  After collaborating in groups and sharing out information, we looked for commonalities and developed some ideas for mission statements.  Some of the common words from the different groups included: community; lifelong learners; globally; 21st Century skills; knowledge; all learners; and responsible citizens.  For a district to be effective, it must be built on a solid foundation.  A shared and accepted mission, or the reason for existence of the organization, is one of those important pieces of that foundation.  Please click on the link below to review the proposed mission statements and vote on the one that best describes why the Salem R-80 organization exists.    The CSIP Committee will meet again in a few weeks. The date, time, and location of the next CSIP meeting will be posted on the district website in a few days.  Please contact John McColloch if you have any questions.
Vote Here!!

Parent Night Cancelled

April 17, 2014 -- The 6th and 7th grade parent nights scheduled for May 1st and 8th have been cancelled due to construction.  The rescheduled dates will be in August with details to be released at a later date.

MCTM Elementary Mathematics Regional Contest by Melanie Wisdom

April 15, 2014 -- Salem Upper Elementary had representation from thirteen students on Saturday, April 12th at the MCTM Regional Math Contest.  The students spent the morning testing in different areas of mathematics as individuals and teams.  Students competing in the contest were:  Tayton Barton, Dabrian Gorman, Collin Heavin, Kole Morgan, Denise Stoner, Hunter Shaw, Caden Camden, Catherine Chester, Martin Jones, Alyssa Stotler, Katrina Parks, Andy Bottorff, and Kolson Seay.  In the area of number sense for 6th grade Katrina Parks took 5th, Kolson Seay took 4th and Andy Bottorff took 2nd.  In the target event area for 6th grade Kolson Seay took 5th place and Katrina Parks took 4th place.  In the sprint event for 5th grade Martin Jones took 3rd place.  In the sprint event for 6th grade Kolson Seay took 5th place.  The team of Martin Jones, Katrina Parks, and Kolson Seay took 4th place out of twenty teams in the team event.  Congratulations to all of the competitors and to Martin Jones and Kolson Seay for qualifying to go on to the State MCTM Elementary Mathematics contest!  A special thanks to Mrs. Pitchford and Mrs. Craft for the many hours spent coaching this great group of kids after school. 

"The Road to Carnegie" Performance
and 5k Run/Walk Fundraisers

The National Award winning Salem Chamber Singers invite you to their live performance, "The Road to Carnegie" next Thursday July 24th at the First Baptist Church in Salem. A complimentary Dessert Bar will be available from 6:00pm-7:00pm followed by the live performance. This will be the final performance of last years award winning choir, as nine members graduated in May. This event also kicks off the Chamber Singers fundraising efforts to raise money for their trip to Carnegie Hall in New York City. The invitation to Carnegie Hall was  extended after the Singers won the Top Choir Award at the Worldstrides Heritage National Musical Festival in Nashville, TN. Admission is free and a donation will be taken. Thank you for supporting the Salem Chamber Singers on the Road to Carnegie!!!

The Salem Chamber Singers are also sponsoring a 5K Family Run/Walk Event next Saturday July 26th at 9:00am starting in the Salem Fire Department parking lot.  Registration will begin at 8:00am and Run/Walk will begin at 9:00am.  Pre-registration is appreciated, but not necessary.  Adults are $25, children 5-12 are $15 and children under 5 are free.  Free water bottle with each registration.  Event will happen rain or shine.  All proceeds will help the Salem R80 Chamber Singers pay for their trip to Carnegie Hall in New York City. Thank you for supporting the Salem Chamber Singers on the Road to Carnegie!!!

Middle School (Junior High) Renovations!

Because of Winn Dixie

June 10, 2014 -- Salem Upper Elementary 3rd grade summer school students in Mrs. McNamee’s class put on a play based on the book, Because of Winn Dixie, for parents, grandparents, and fellow students.  The students have practiced hard for the first two weeks of summer school and did a fantastic job of creating their costumes and acting in front of such a large group.  A special thanks to Mrs. McNamee for giving them this wonderful experience.  

Middle School / Junior High Construction!

Salem Upper Elementary Art Show

May 29, 2014 -- The Salem Upper Elementary held its annual Art Show on the evening of May 15th.  With almost 200 people in attendance, the evening was filled with fun.  Activities such as a photo booth, face painting and creating goonie bird hats were available and the students had a great time with all.  Student art work was judged earlier in the week by local artist Gary Nash.  This was an evening to see the creativity of our students and they shined through with talent.  

Congratulations to our 2014 Retirees

Steve CarvajalSteve Carvajal,
Superintendent
May 15, 2014 -- It is hard to believe that the school year is coming to an end.  Seniors have finished their last day and it certainly seems different without them.  I imagine we miss them more than they do us.

Our end of course exams are starting to come in and the results have been outstanding thus far. We have increases in almost every area so far.  Congrats to the students and their teachers!

Graduation is this Friday and we hope for a great turn out and of course, no rain!  It looks to be a nice cool evening. 

Things are really moving along now with the building project.  Never fast enough though.  The high school commons renovation by the gymnasium is nearly finished.  All that is left is the new tile and cove base.  The trophy case has been completely renovated also and looks outstanding!

This week should see most of the painting finished in the high school addition.  The drop ceiling is being installed and the flooring is to begin next week.  Lighting should be installed next week as well.  Bathroom partitions and fixtures should go in sometime in the next week as well.  Heating and cooling is operational now.  The outside finishing is somewhat of a slower process but is getting closer as well.  Sidewalks should follow in the near future.  The high school should be completed sometime the last week of May.

The middle school addition will be getting the remaining storefront windows and doors later this week.  All framing is completed.  They are hanging drywall right now.  Most of the masonry is finished.  Flooring is scheduled in that building the last week of June.  As soon as the high school outside finish is completed they will move over to the middle school addition. 

Summer renovation projects are underway with as much work being done as possible without disturbing classes.  Still left to do are the library renovations, bathroom renovations, office to classroom remodels, new tile in the hallways, the connectors for each building, painting of classrooms and hallways, installation of new lockers, security cameras and doors, and a number of other projects time permitting.  There is also an unbelievable amount of moving that needs to be done this summer as well including the second grade to the upper, the sixth grade to the middle school, and the freshman to the high school.  This summer is going to be a whirl wind.

We want to have a grand opening when we have open house for next school year.  Right now we are shooting for the 14th of August. 

Have a great week!

Salem Upper Elementary Special Olympics’ Team Brings Home Medals

April 30, 2014 -- On April, 23rd the Salem Upper Elementary Special Olympics team traveled to Waynesville to compete in the Area Special Olympics Spring Track Events.

Each athlete competed in the 100 meter dash, standing long jump, and softball throw.  Each athlete received a medal in their event, including 6 Gold medals.  A great time was had by all as they represented our school.

Middle School Brick front and HS columns

Salem Upper Elementary Tiger Choir 
by Melanie Wisdom

April 16, 2014 -- The Salem Upper Elementary Tiger Choir, under the direction of Lori Beasley and accompanied by Christy Leathers, sang at the Mid-Missouri Music Festival in Jefferson City on Saturday.  The choir received a 1 rating for their performance.  This festival is so beneficial to our young choir members, as they receive suggestions from the judges following the competition.  It was a great day for the 66 member choir. The choir performed two selections for a panel of three judges.  Each of the judges gave a written critique and rating based on the performance and one judge did a short clinic with the choir offering suggestions for further improvement.  Under the section entitled “strengths” on the critique sheet, one of the judges wrote “too many to list-you are a fantastic choir!”  The choir’s next performance will be Monday, May 12th when they will perform the musical revue “Broadway Beat” at the Salem High School.    

Salem Chemists go to Engineering School by Vashanti Rahaman and her Chem II Class

Vashanti RahamanVashanti Rahaman,
Chemistry Instructor
April 11, 2014 -- On April 9th, Chemistry II students from Salem High School, along with peers from six other Missouri high schools, visited the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Missouri S&T in Rolla.   Students were guided through active labs in the Department.   They got to see near-peers working in fields which actually use, in an almost matter-of fact way, the sometimes abstract-seeming scientific language and concepts taught in high school. 

In the glass workshop, they saw glass shaped and blown and at the foundry they learned about metal casting. Later labs and demonstrations taught them about the properties of glass and metals and ceramics and how the forces between atoms, affected the behavior of different types materials. They watched glass balls bounce like rubber, and metal springs uncoil in hot water, and saw that an oxidation process could protect metal from oxidation.

In a high temperature advanced ceramics lab, students  experienced that a piece of space shuttle tile would protect their hands from a blow torch, and that, Science  Fiction movies, not withstanding, titanium would not be a good material for a space ship hull (upon heating, a pellet of Titanium oxidized violently, giving off sparks.)  In the Electron microscope labs, students saw the operation of scanning electron microscopes, observing objects ranging from a single hair on a fly to single atoms of Silicon.  

After lunch, student groups were challenged to protect a small glass container with plastic straws only. The protected glass was then dropped from increasing heights.  Survivors of the formal testing went on to an impromptu informal testing that far exceeded original specifications.  The protected containers were dropped, and then thrown from a height of more than a story onto flagstones.  Only one team’s device lasted longer than Salem’s.   All in all, our students pronounced the day: “Best Field Trip Ever!”

21st Century Community Learning Center

April 3, 2014 -- Let us hear from you!!! We want to know what you as parents, guardians, and members of the community want in Salem for you and your children to do after school and during the summer!

Salem has a unique opportunity for offering several After School Activities for both the youth as well as adults in our community.  A community grant is being offered by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that will help implement a large number of activities for all Salem residents.  According to DESE, this grant is a program which “provides academic enrichment opportunities in before‐ or after‐school and/or summer settings for children” and will “offer students a broad array of enrichment activities that complement their regular academic programs, along with offering families literacy and related educational development”.

Salem is a community that supports and encourages all kinds of education as well as involvement in various activities for young and old alike.  All the School Districts in Salem are extremely thankful for the very generous and tremendous support received in the past and present.  There is a link on the Salem R-80 School Districts page that gives ALL Dent county residents a voice.  We want to hear from you if you are in Dent County.  Your children can be home schooled, private school, public school, or graduated!  This is another way for the people to help support the growth of our citizens, not just our school or youth.  The link is a short 2 minute survey where adults can let us know what kinds of activities you feel is needed and would like for us to implement in the Salem area.  The link will be active only until April 18th.  Thank you again for your continued support!

Click here to add your voice!  

Spread the Word to End the Word
Salem Upper Elementary

April 3, 2014 -- On Friday, March 28th the Salem Upper Elementary students, faculty and staff participated in a nationwide event called “Spread the Word to End the Word”.  The goal of the event is to end the use of the word “retarded” in order to illuminate the negative connotation that society has attached to it.  We are so proud as a school that so many students, as well as, staff, have chosen to take the pledge to never again say the “r” word.  For more information or to take the pledge yourself, simply visit 
www.r-word.org.  

2014 MARE Outstanding 
Rural School District Award 
by Steve Carvajal

February 25, 2014 -- Congratulations to the Salem R-80 School District for being selected the Missouri Association of Rural Educators (MARE) “Outstanding Rural School District” for the year 2014.  We were selected for the following reasons.  *The bond passing which included many changes and upgrades to our facilities including the new construction of six additional classrooms, HVAC units, new roofing, windows, library expansions, new cafeteria in the middle school, commons areas, restroom renovations, new restrooms, new tile, lockers, security, fire alarms and more.  *The community support that has allowed for the gym floor to be redone, a donated driver’s education car, donated labor and materials for dugouts and press box at the softball field.  *Our message center that funds the ACT incentive program, acknowledges students of the month, athlete of the week, meet the staff, and the school calendar.   *The “jeans scholarship” that provides (3) $1,000 to graduating high school seniors that is funded entirely by staff members.  *The school district and the community working together to improve our city of Salem that led to the Missouri Betterment Award for our community.  *The school has also started working with the Health Dent County group to provide wellness in both our schools and community.  *The addition of the school’s first pre-school.  These are all some of the positive changes that were recognized and made us deserving of the award.  There have been so many positive changes that have taken place in the district it is very nice to receive some positive recognition for all the hard work that everyone has put in.  Congratulations to all that were involved! 
High School
Senior High School
Junior High
Junior High School
Upper Elementary
Upper Elementary
William Lynch Elementary
William Lynch Elementary