Relocation Guide|Moving to Salem Oregon

Parents always asks me “What are the best schools in Salem?”

Best is a subjective concept and the fact is that you can have an exceptional school that has a difficult class one year that may pull test scores down.   When you are considering schools as part of your home buying experience, you generally want to pick an area that has a long history of strong schools. This goes hand in hand with good resale and desirable neighborhoods, and yes, they tend to be more expensive. I can tell you that this list flip flops year to year, but generally these schools are always up there.

So based strictly on how these schools performed on the standard testing for 2009…

The top 10 elementary schools in Salem-Keizer

1. Clear Lake (Keizer)
2. Rosedale (south Salem)
3. Schirle (south Salem)
4. Candalaria (south Salem)
5. Chapman Hill (west Salem)
6. Sumpter (south Salem)
7. Morningside (south Salem)
8. Optimum Learning Center (Charter school Keizer)
9. McKinley (south Salem)
10. Gubser (Keizer)

The top 5 middle schools in Salem-Keizer

1. Jane Goodall Environmental Middle School (Charter school)
2. Judson (south Salem)
3. Howard Street (Charter school)
4. Walker (west Salem)
5. Crossler (south Salem)

The top 3 high schools in Salem

1. Sprague (south Salem)
2. West Salem
3. McNary (Keizer)

If you are wanting to relocate to Salem Oregon and want to learn more about our local schools, you can read more about them at at the Salem-Keizer site.

Homeschooling is actually fairly common here.  We have many groups, statewide as well as local, for families that are considering home schooling their children.  Homeschoolers have some specific rules they have to follow in Oregon and you can read the rules at the Oregon Department of Education site.  There is also excellent information at the Oregon Home Educators Network site as well.

Oregon Home is a Yahoo! Group.

SHINE This is the Salem Homeschool Independent Network of Educators

SASH is the Salem Area Support for Homeschoolers

ORSIG

ORChristianHS is a Christian homeschooling group

LDS-OHEA is for Latter Day Saints.

Oregon Connections Academy- This is a home school/virtual public school hybrid program.

In some states Charter and magnet schools are really common.  While Salem has charter schools, they are still relatively new to the area.  Charter schools are public schools so there isn’t an additional cost to attend, other than parental provided transportation.  In Salem, entry into the Charter school is strictly by lottery.  Parents that want their children to attend one of the Charter schools can attend  the meeting and sign their child up for that school.  If there are more children than spots, spots are filled by lottery.

Howard Street Charter School (grades 6-8)

Jane Goodall Environmental Middle School (grades 6-8)

Baker Charter School (K-5)

Oregon Connections Academy- This is a home school/virtual public school hybrid program.

If you are considering moving to Salem Oregon and you are a parent, I know one of your questions is about school choices in the area.  Salem has some private school choices, both religious and non-religious.

Private schools

Abiqua (k-8) Abiqua is currently in the process of expanding their school.  They will be relocating to a campus and able to double the size of their school in the next few years.

The Heritage School (1-8) is a variation on the one room school house with mixed grades.  You can contact them at503-581-9265 for more information.

Religious Private Schools

Blanchet Catholic School (7-12)

Immanual Lutheran (k-8)

Livingstone Adventist Academy (k-12)

Queen of Peace (prek-6)

Salem Academy (prek-12)

Salem Christian Day School (prek-6)

Sonshine School (prek-6)

St. Joseph’s Catholic School (preschool-6)

St. Vincent DePaul (prek-6)

Native American Schools

Chemawa Indian School

With so many school choices in the area, if you decide the public schools are not the right choice for your child, there are many options to consider as you relocate to the Salem Oregon area.