Federal Street School

• Federal Street School started in 1990, at the site of the old St. James elementary school building on Federal St. It started as a unique two-way bilingual program for grades Kindergarten through second grade.(older grades would be added as time goes on.)
• The program, which has been recognized state-wide, involves both English and Spanish speaking students in a fully integrated program in which both groups of children will learn both languages.It covers Kindergarten through eighth grade.
• The city signed a lease with the Archdiocese of Boston for the use of the Federal St. building which was formerly used for the St. James elementary school until the early 1970's.
• The new school helped alleviate over-crowding at other city schools. The plan to use St. James school was favored over leasing portable classrooms for the overcrowded schools.
• In 2001, the Federal Street school moved to a new school building, located in front of the Salem High School, on Willson St. It is now named the Nathaniel Bowditch School, after the famous navigator, astronomer and mathematician.
• In 2018, the superintendent Margarita Ruiz decided to dissolve and close The Nathaniel Bowditch School. It was a move "rooted in the desire to end segregation" as the school had become, not intentionally, a large percentage of Hispanic students and low-income families. The school had struggled to meet state performance goals for years. The plan was to spread out the children to the other schools in the city. Horace Mann Laboratory School would move out of his current home by Salem State to the Bowditch School, retaining their name, the Horace Mann Laboratory School.

See Also

• "Parochial school lease may ease classroom crowding" Salem Evening News, Apr. 25, 1990, p.11
• "Former St. James school leased by city for nominal fee" Salem Evening News, July 26, 1990, p.11
• "City-leased school will open on time in September" Salem Evening News, Aug. 16, 1990, p.11
• "Salem to close Bowditch School" Salem News, Jan. 24, 2018, p. 1