Superintendent's Newsletter
October 22, 2021
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Dear Manhattan Beach Unified School District Families,
I hope this letter finds you well. Today’s message focuses on STEM programs at Manhattan Beach Middle School, a call to sign up any student in your family for our COVID testing program, a reminder about cold and flu season, and this weekend’s Skechers Friendship Walk.
Spotlight on Manhattan Beach Middle School (With thanks to Principal Ahrens for this update)
STEM Opportunities at MBMS
For many years, MBMS has offered a yearlong Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) elective to enhance our science offerings to 7th and 8th graders. This year, members of the science department proposed expanding that offering to include STEM and Technology in our Exploratory Wheel. With funding support from MBEF and Northrop Grumman, students have the opportunity to participate in three different classes throughout the course of the school year: Introduction to STEM, Marine Biology, and FabLab. After this year, students will then have the opportunity to sign-up for a yearlong STEM class to further pursue their passions and interests.
The STEM Wheel Class is a 12-week introductory course to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Under the guidelines of the engineering design process, students engage in problem-solving. Students also design, plan and build prototypes to come up with creative solutions in a variety of scenarios, both individual and group, as they practice collaboration and communication. Through this course, students will gain interest in and excitement about the STEM field and be encouraged to explore it further.
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The Marine Biology Class is an introduction to oceanography, including the chemical, geographical, and biological features of the world’s oceans. Students will learn about human reliance on the ocean today and in the past, as well as seawater chemistry, tides, waves and tsunamis, classification of marine invertebrates and vertebrates, and human impacts. Each trimester students engage in a guided squid and perch dissection and a walking field trip to the Roundhouse Aquarium to learn about plankton and marine food webs.
FabLab: Creating with Technology Class is designed to teach students how to create using technology and household items. Students use specific technology elements, such as video game design through Bloxels and circuits through Little Bits, for their innovations. Students use their knowledge to build and design their own projects in a hands-on environment.
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COVID Testing
MBUSD has launched an important, free, voluntary school-based COVID testing program for our students to provide safe and healthy classrooms and campuses.
Regular voluntary COVID testing helps us to identify cases proactively and early and allows us to prevent further infection by isolating people with positive diagnoses and alerting close contacts to possible exposure.
If your student is not already enrolled in our free weekly on-campus COVID testing program, we encourage you to provide your consent for them to participate by completing the registration form here - you only need to fill it out once.
Our testing program takes place on campus and is supervised by nurses provided by the Malibu Medical Clinic. Participants can self-swab if they wish, or, if they need assistance, the nurses can administer the nasal swab. Nasal swabs are taken from the area just below the bridge of the nose, and, while participants’ eyes may water a bit, they typically experience no pain and very little discomfort. Upon request, participants can provide a saliva sample rather than a nasal sample.
There are many important steps we can take to mitigate the spread of COVID in our schools and community, such as wearing a mask, completing your student’s daily RUVNA screener, staying home when ill, and washing hands regularly, but we believe that regular testing is also a very important tool in this process, and we hope that your student will participate.
Participating students will automatically be scheduled to be tested every week on an ongoing basis, and all individual results will be emailed directly to the parent email address submitted during the registration process in addition to being shared with the school district.
Once enrolled, if you have questions or need assistance you can ask your site administrator, or you can send an email to mbusd@malibumedicalgroup.com.
In addition to participating in testing, we continue to encourage vaccination when possible, as vaccination is by far the most effective tool we have to ensure a safe school environment. Please watch next week’s newsletter for any updates about COVID vaccine availability for children 5-11 years old.
Again, whether your student is vaccinated or not, we urge you to enroll your student in the MBUSD COVID testing program. Thank you for your continuing efforts to create a safe environment for our students.
Cold and Flu Season
With the onset of cold and flu season, it is important to remember that anyone who has symptoms should not come to school. COVID, cold, and flu symptoms overlap, and while in the past we may have sent symptomatic students to school because “it’s only a little cold” or “there’s a test scheduled for today that they can’t miss” or “they can power through,” this is no longer the case. If your student is symptomatic, please keep them home until they are well, and please consider seeking a COVID test to rule out the possibility of a COVID-19 infection. In addition, as a reminder, please consider getting a flu shot to help protect your family and our community from widespread flu outbreaks.
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The Skechers Friendship Walk is THIS SUNDAY!
I'm reaching out to ask us to come together for this great cause. The Skechers Friendship Walk benefits all of our students in MBUSD – and it is our special needs students who participate in the Friendship Foundation who benefit the most. If you are not familiar with the Friendship Foundation, they support children with special needs by providing a safe, accepting and inclusive environment. For just $30, you can add your name to the list of supporters of this amazing organization.
This is my first year being involved with the Skechers Friendship Walk, and I would like to see our participation grow. Right now, we have just under 1,200 walkers. Let’s show the South Bay we are committed to our special needs students and our public schools and register 1,700 walkers or virtual walkers.
If you've already signed up, THANK YOU! If you have not, please take a moment to sign up by clicking on one of the MBUSD teams below.
Be sure to designate your contribution to MBEF so your registration fee and more supports the Manhattan Beach public schools AND the Friendship Foundation!! If you're unable to attend, please consider registering as a “virtual walker.” All registration fees will be generously matched by SKECHERS.
Let’s go the extra mile for our students and the Friendship Foundation by registering TODAY!
Thank you for supporting this great community,
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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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