Superintendent's Newsletter
April 15, 2022
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Dear MBUSD Parents and Community,
I hope this letter finds you well and you had a great Spring Break. Today’s newsletter spotlights Pennekamp Elementary, a feature on Mira Costa Cheer, MBUSD teams excelling in the Odyssey of the Mind Tournament, and much more!
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Spotlight on Pennekamp (with special thanks to Ms. Patti Ackerman and Principal Sharon Witzansky)
Using a balanced literacy approach, Pennekamp’s TK class is going buggy with entomology! Ms. Ackerman’s students have been engaging in word study and soaking up interactive read-alouds from various fiction and non-fiction books about insects. Students have also been practicing their fine motor skills through both modeled and independent writing activities as seen in their “Buzz Facts” and “If I were the hungry caterpillar…” pieces. Notice the use of proper spacing between words, use of both phonetic and traditional spelling, as well as emerging capital/lowercase letter formation.
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MBUSD’s Transitional Kindergarten (TK) program promotes the joy of learning in a positive and nurturing environment. TK programming creates critical thinkers, effective oral communicators, and life-long learners. The classroom environment includes many opportunities for fine and gross motor activities, oral language development, and social-emotional learning. Our program prioritizes intentional teaching that is hands-on and child-centered, purposeful structured play, and small-group instruction.
All children who will be five years old as of September 1, 2022, are eligible to enroll in Kindergarten, and all children who will be five years old as of February 2, 2023, are eligible to enroll in Transitional Kindergarten.
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Costa’s Drumline is Heading to the Southern California Percussion Alliance Finals this Weekend!
We are so proud of them!
They will perform at the Southern California Percussion Alliance finals for the first time in Costa’s history! At their recent performance, Percussion Director, Kevin Tran and his team created a show called “Shelter” based on a popular Japanese anime short film.
The SPCA finals are the largest percussion competition in the western United States where top high schools and independent percussion ensembles from across the west coast compete.
You can watch their last semi-finals performance below:
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We wish them the best of luck this weekend!
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Los Angeles County Office of Education Features Mira Costa’s Cheer Team |
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Mira Costa Celebrates Student Athletes on National Signing Day
Mira Costa High School recognized the achievements of seven athletes who will be going on to play sports at the collegiate level next year! We couldn’t be more proud of our senior athletes.
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Congratulations to the following students:
Allison Cronk – West Cliff University (Tennis)
Brett McCalla – Central Washington University (Football)
Alex Jeffords – Johns Hopkins University (Fencing)
Ellie Weissenberg – University of San Francisco (Soccer)
Carly Milosevic- Boston University (Rowing)
Zachary Yakubik – Boston College (Swimming)
Lucca Franz – Middlebury College (Cross Country & Track)
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MBUSD Teams Advance in Problem Solving Competition
Four MBUSD teams representing Pacific Elementary, MBMS, and Mira Costa competed in the recent Odyssey of the Mind SoCal State Tournament competition. Students used their creativity to solve “long term” and “spontaneous”' problems. The teams started working on their Odyssey of the Mind problems in September and since the problems are complex, each team member spends nearly 500 hours crafting solutions.
Odyssey of the Mind is an international program that teaches students problem-solving skills.
Three of the teams qualified for the World Finals in Ames, Iowa and it will be the first in-person contest since the pandemic. Teams from more than 35 states and 28 countries will be present.
Special thanks to all our parents and coaches who made this possible.
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Pacific Elementary: Coached by Teri Hampton |
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Pacific Elementary:
Coached by Michelle Lautanen
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MBMS:
Coached by Brian Fan
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MCHS:
Coached by Brian Fan
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Congratulations to Meadows 1st Grader Mustang Tasha Yang
Tasha won an award at the state level for her beautiful artwork in the 2021/22 PTA Reflections Contest. She received the Award of Merit in the Visual Arts Category for her creativity.
Her piece of art was called “I will change the world by planting colorful trees.” Recently, Yang and thirty-two other MBUSD students won at the district level for their submissions.
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Staff Member Spotlight
Arnold Corral has worked at the Mira Costa kitchen since October 2006. The Food and Nutrition Services department employees are considered “essential workers," and Arnold is proof of this. He cares about his coworkers and students and is “the guy” in the kitchen.
The highlight of his day is interacting with his loyal customers who visit his food cart. Most recently, students gave Arnold a gift and thank you note for his kindness.
Arnold is a very proud dad – his son Arnold Jr. is currently applying for medical residency at UC Irvine.
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At-Home Antigen COVID-19 Home Kits
As a reminder, we recommended in previous District communications that all students and staff should self-test again on the 2nd or 3rd day back after returning from Spring Break. If you have not done so, we ask that you test this weekend.
The use of these free home tests should be supervised by an adult, and their purpose is to identify whether a student or staff member is positive for COVID-19. If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, they should self-isolate and report the case to the school site (students)/District (employees) as soon as possible. In addition to reporting all positive cases, please let us know if you used a school-provided test in the identification of a positive case.
Self-Screening Before Coming to Campus
It is a requirement and each individual’s responsibility to self-screen at home every day before coming to campus.
Parents should ask students, and employees should ask themselves, whether they are experiencing any symptoms that could potentially be related to COVID-19. If they have symptoms, they must contact the school (students) or District (employees) to determine whether they should come to campus.
In addition, if a student or an employee has been in close contact with anyone with a confirmed case of COVID-19, they must contact the school (students) or District (employees) to determine whether they should come to campus.
If a student or an employee is positive for COVID-19, they must stay home, follow home isolation guidelines, and contact the school (students) or District (employees) to report the case.
We ask all students, staff members, parents/guardians, and volunteers to continue to monitor themselves and their household members for symptoms of COVID-19 and to stay home and test if any symptoms develop, or if they find out they have been in close contact with anyone positive for COVID-19.
Testing
Testing for students and staff members who are symptomatic or who are identified as close contacts is available through the Beach Cities Health District.
Staff and students can sign up for a test using this registration link. (Students will need their Aeries ID number and the primary parent email address linked to their Aeries profile; employees will need the last 6 digits of their Employee ID number and their mbusd.org email address.) BCHD testing is available Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.
Additional testing resources can be found here.
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Buy Tickets Now for Beauty and the Beast Musical!
The Mira Costa High School Drama/Tech Department is thrilled to return to the stage!
After a 3 year absence from live musical theater, MCHS is presenting the full-scale, family-friendly musical Beauty and the Beast in a new and exciting visual presentation. This timeless classic promises to delight and excite the theater-going community this spring. We also hope that it inspires a new generation of performers and theater lovers in the South Bay! All ages are welcome!
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Respond to Four MBUSD Questions
I have been asking students, staff, and MBUSD families the four questions below to learn more about our community.
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The next Superintendent Newsletter will be published on Friday, April 22.
Thank you again for your continued support and collaboration as we head into the final stretch of the school year. Manhattan Beach Unified is an exceptional school district, and together we continue to grow and improve every day. I appreciate all of our staff, students, and families for helping keep our community safe and healthy. Have a wonderful weekend!
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John Bowes, Ed.D.
MBUSD Superintendent
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Manhattan Beach Unified School District
325 S. Peck Avenue
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
310.318.7345
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