4719 Ward Dr NE
Salem, OR 97305

Both my children have/still are attending Yoshikai. They both have been at Yoshikai their entire academic career. My son is a TAG student, while my daughter is not. She doesn't grasp it as easily. That being said, both my children have received the same academic nurturing and learning. The principal is an amazing woman, compassionate and understanding. Any of the teachers I have had contact with are dedicated to their students and helping each and every one achieve. They are diligent with a zero tolerance policy for bullying. The community around the school is a nice, quiet neighborhood. A good portion of the neighbors have lived in their homes for 15-20 years. Although the school received a low score, I know it to be a fact that the teachers are amazing and they DO try to help every kid they come in contact with achieve success.

So, we got a new principle and some new teachers, also the building capacity has increased. The fights, bullying in school have dropped to one every 2 1/2 months. (Assault will get you suspended/or expelled, and probably can get the police involved.) The main principle is amazing, he substitutes classes, he greets students, he also directs the line for the cars for dropping off students, and he constantly monitors the school. The security is very nice too, they do their jobs well. However, the students still talk in classes when the teachers ask them not to talk multiple times, and very rarely the teachers give up. There are also some teachers that are mean/or yelling, either to the entire class or just one /multiple students. Most teachers are amazing at their jobs though. The bell schedule changed, giving the students 5 minutes instead of 4 minutes of passing time, which means slightly more time to use the restroom and get to their classes, and somehow some students still was tardy to their classes even though the lockers wasn't used because of COVID or they were talking to their friends in the hallway. Phones and other sorts of electronics are not allowed in school before 4 PM (unless you got clubs going on). Not allowed electronics are a problem because students will still use it to give themselves some time to play other games/ or text. Luckily, some teachers have sharp eyes and take students phones away as they know the situation with the students.

10/10 Mckay is a great high school.