School Redesign in Action 2025

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was evident to leaders at Salem Public Schools that adolescents’ relationship with school was at an all-time low. Determined to rethink what is possible for connected and empowering learning in middle school, then-Mayor Kim Driscoll and Superintendent Stephen Zrike joined forces with the WPS Institute pilot a new model. For the last three years, School leaders and teachers in Salem have engaged students as partners to shift where, how & with whom learning happens. Today, current middle and high school panelists will shed light on this experience from the student perspective.