Behavioral Health Center at Straub Middle School

Our district is committed to the success of all students in our community and here at Straub, we share that same commitment. 

About Behavioral Health Centers in SKPS

Salem-Keizer Public Schools currently has two small centers where specialized staff work with, support and guide students who struggle behaviorally in traditional classroom settings. The two program locations are currently in retired SKPS schools - Lake Labish and Fruitland. However, due to age, building capacity and ongoing facility needs, these spaces have become inadequate learning environments for some of our district’s highest-need students. Our district teams have done an extensive review of facilities in and out of our district to find a location that would best meet the needs of staff and students.

Coming Soon – Straub Middle School Behavioral Health Center

Over the next year, we are excited to share that our Straub community will have an opportunity to play a pivotal role in improving behavioral health support systems across our district by hosting the Behavioral Health Center on the east end of our campus.

With a goal of opening this new addition to Straub by January 2026, we are in close collaboration with our student services team, behavioral health department, facilities, safety and risk management teams and our district leaders to ensure this is a positive and impactful change for our school and our entire district.

What will this new program look like? 

Our new Behavioral Health Center will bring students from across our district based on their individualized needs. It will run separately from the rest of our school’s day-to-day operations and function as a separate school with its own teachers, behavior intervention trainers, administrator and support staff.

What are the next steps? 

Over the next several months, we will continue working as a Straub community with our district teams. This new addition will result in some needed renovations to our school to ensure proper learning spaces for our Straub students and students receiving services in our Behavioral Health Center. 

Straub BHC Open House - June 12, 2025

This Thursday evening we will host an open house event for all Straub families to learn about the new Behavioral Health Center. During this event you will have the opportunity to hear from me and our district’s behavioral health team and ask questions you may have. 

Event Details:

• Where: Straub Middle School Cafeteria 
• When: Thursday, June 12 at 6 p.m. 

We hope you will join us as we finalize these plans and welcome our community to engage in the process, ask questions and learn more.