November 2025

What's inside this issue?

I'm excited to share our new District staff newsletter, created to highlight stories, celebrate our staff, and keep everyone connected, informed, and engaged. We'll also continue publishing the weekly Superintendent's Staff Newsletter, and the next edition of Inside MBUSD will be published in January.

I hope everyone has had an excellent start to the school year! It has been a pleasure visiting our campuses and seeing firsthand the outstanding work happening across our schools. Our theme for this year, “Excellence Together: Cultivating Safe Schools Through Strong Systems and Shared Responsibility,” truly comes to life in the work you do every day.

We’ve already seen many incredible highlights this year, celebrating both student and staff accomplishments.

At the October 8 MBUSD Board of Trustees meeting, staff presented the 2024–2025 state testing results from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). Districtwide, the number of students meeting or exceeding standards increased by 2.09% in English and 0.60% in Math from the prior year, marking two consecutive years of growth in both areas. Compared with all K–12 districts in California, MBUSD ranks 5th in English and 6th in Math. 

We also saw substantial improvement on the California Science Test (CAST), with scores rising 7.39% in the number of students meeting or exceeding standards. These achievements reflect the dedication, expertise, and care of our incredible teachers and staff. Thank you for your continued commitment to helping every student thrive. Your work truly makes a difference!

Sincerely, 

Dr. John Bowes

Benefits and Risk Management

Based on requests from employees, and with support and input from the Benefits Committee, MBUSD was able to offer two new medical plans to provide more affordable HMO and PPO offerings for employees this year. Open Enrollment ran for five (5) weeks, ending on September 12. 

During this period, 463 MBUSD employees made changes to their medical, dental, and/or vision enrollments. All health insurance updates made during Open Enrollment, as well as other voluntary insurance or retirement enrollments made through our third-party administrators (American Fidelity, Schools First, etc.), have been processed and are now active for our plan year, which runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. 

Story contributed by Benefits and Risk Manager, Carol Gerken.

Business Services

Please welcome Alejandra Gutierrez, our new Payroll Technician. Alejandra joins us with several years of experience in payroll and accounting across both municipal and educational sectors.

Most recently, she worked as an Accounting Technician for the City of La Palma, where she managed payroll, financial reporting, and general ledger functions. Prior to that, she served as a Payroll Specialist for Madera Unified School District, handling payroll compliance, reporting, and employee data management. She brings strong attention to detail, a solid understanding of state and federal tax regulations, and a commitment to accurate financial reporting. We are excited to welcome Alejandra and look forward to her contributions to our team. 

Alejandra will be supporting payroll functions for Grand View, Meadows, Pacific, MBMS, Food & Nutrition Services, and substitutes with last names N through Z.

Classified staff members from the District Office were excited to attend the annual Job-Alike Conference held in Torrance. The Job-Alike Conference brought together school professionals from across the region to collaborate, discuss common challenges, and share best practices in specific sessions targeted to specific areas such as accounting, payroll, purchasing, technology, and more. Staff were able to participate in breakout sessions focused on their areas of responsibility and process improvement strategies that could be used across the District.

The event encouraged open dialogue, allowing staff to ask questions and learn from colleagues with real-world experiences. Overall, the workshop provided valuable insights, practical takeaways, and a strong sense of community for all those involved, giving staff an excellent opportunity for learning and growth. 

Stories contributed by Director of Fiscal Services, Jorge Martinez. 

Educational Services

Following the adoption of i-Ready Classroom Mathematics in September 2025, we are now scheduling the professional learning rollout for the next month: all TK and Kinder teachers will engage in training for the new i-Ready Classroom Mathematics curriculum. The sessions will introduce them to the program’s Try–Discuss–Connect instructional routine, the use of hands-on manipulatives and models, and the embedded supports in the Teacher’s Guide. Drawing on resources included in the program—such as discourse cards, differentiation pathways, and guided lesson scaffolds—trainers will coach teachers not just in pacing, but in prompting student reasoning, orchestrating mathematical discourse, and designing tasks with high ceiling/low threshold access, which is aligned to our Cognitively Guided Instruction approach.

By early November, teachers will begin applying the curriculum in their TK and Kinder classrooms. Students will engage with rich, developmentally appropriate tasks, using manipulatives to explore quantity, pattern, and spatial relationships. Teachers will facilitate as students first wrestle with a problem, then share and compare strategies, and finally build connections with formal representations. Over time, the lessons scaffold toward procedural fluency and application, but always with a strong grounding in conceptual reasoning.

A big thank you to the Elementary Math Adoption Committee and grade level leads, Jennifer Bituin for TK, and Megi Asano for Kinder, for their leadership in the adoption and rollout of this new curriculum!

Story contributed by the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Dr. Jonathan Erickson.

Early Learning

Teachers at the preschool participated in a three-hour training this week entitled Cultivating Kindness: Strengthening Team Bonds for a Better School facilitated by Geller and Associates. This important work focused on building a positive, supportive school culture where kindness serves as the foundation for collaboration and growth. Through interactive activities and reflective discussions, staff explored ways to foster empathy, strengthen communication, and celebrate one another’s strengths. The workshop began by taking a look at the results from the culture survey taken by all preschool staff. By intentionally cultivating kindness within our teams, we are creating a more connected and resilient school community—one where staff feel valued, respected, and inspired to do their best each day. The office staff and Instructional aide staff will participate in the same training next week.

Story contributed by Director of Early Learning, Jackie O'Sullivan.

Food and Nutrition Services

On the first day of school, we officially launched our new Point of Sale system, Mosaic, a web-based upgrade to our original platform. With minimal training, our incredible Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) team jumped in like rock stars and handled the transition with confidence and speed.

The upgraded system is noticeably faster and more efficient, helping us serve students more quickly and smoothly. These enhancements have streamlined processes for our FNS office staff and made things easier for parents as well.

In September, we welcomed Anthony Chumpitaz to MBMS as our new kitchen/café supervisor. A graduate of the Art Institute of Los Angeles with a degree in Culinary Arts, Anthony brings a wealth of experience from his time as a chef at several SoCal establishments, including most recently, Orange Lutheran High School, UCLA, The Beverly Hills Hotel, Sodexo at Honda Headquarters, Terranea Resort, and The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey.

A South Bay native, Anthony lives in Torrance with his family and already feels at home within MBUSD. With support from our seasoned café supervisors, Stephanie Aviles and Julio Matus, he’s quickly gotten up to speed and is contributing to the continued improvement of meal service at the middle school.

Stories contributed by the Director of Food and Nutrition Services, Lena Agee. 

Information Technology

With the recent growth in phishing campaigns this summer, MBUSD’s IT department has upgraded its Google Workspace license to strengthen MBUSD’s overall cybersecurity posture. Google Workspace provides enterprise-level security built to protect our staff and students from evolving threats.

Google uses AI-powered phishing and malware detection to identify and block malicious emails before they reach users’ inboxes. In addition, the platform includes advanced encryption, two-step verification (2SV), data loss prevention (DLP), and admin-level monitoring tools that give our IT team greater visibility and control over data and account activity. With this enhancement, we will be able to better protect Google Classrooms and everything in our Google Drives and mbusdapps.org accounts. This upgrade not only enhances our defense against cyber threats but also supports a safe, secure, and collaborative learning environment across our District.

Story contributed by Director of IT, Eric Sangalang.

Operations, Maintenance & Facilities

This summer, our maintenance department completed 30 teacher moves across the District, including moves both within and between school sites. Many of these were large-scale and required detailed coordination, with entire classrooms, including furniture and instructional materials, being relocated. Several of them were complex and time-sensitive, often depending on coordination with custodial teams, site administrators, and IT staff.

Several last-minute changes required quick action, and team members who don’t usually assist with classroom or campus moves stepped in to help when our regular moving crews were already committed to other scheduled relocations and couldn’t take care of the additional moves. 

Classroom moves are physically demanding and logistically complicated, often requiring multiple visits to complete a single relocation. They require detailed planning, clear timelines, and open lines of communication with everyone involved. Our maintenance team approached the work with a focus on minimizing disruption for teachers and making sure classrooms were ready for instruction by the time staff returned. From protecting fragile teaching materials to moving heavy items up and down stairs or through tight hallways, every move was handled with care and attention to detail. These efforts directly support our educators and students by creating organized, functional learning environments. We appreciate the professionalism, adaptability, and teamwork shown by the entire maintenance and operations crew during this busy and critical period.

Also, we are looking for a highly qualified electrician to join our amazing M&O team. If you know someone, please have them apply at edjoin.org/mbusd.

Story contributed by Director of Facilities and Maintenance, Paul Ruta.

Summertime doesn’t mean things slow down for our Operations team. Custodians are busy tackling deep cleaning across classrooms, restrooms, gyms, cafeterias, and common areas, all while many school sites remain active with summer camps. They’re power washing walls and walkways, waxing floors, cleaning carpets, washing windows and furniture, and making sure every corner is ready for the new school year. It’s demanding work, and it takes a consistent, focused effort each day to stay on track. Their work may go unseen by many, but it plays a critical role in making sure campuses are clean, safe, and ready for learning.

On top of cleaning, custodians are often pulled off schedule to assist staff with last-minute requests or unexpected tasks. At sites with summer camps, they support the summer programs while they are in session and then often have just days to turn over rooms. Despite the time crunch, they manage to get it done without cutting corners. It’s a balancing act that takes coordination, patience, and a lot of hustle. Their work keeps everything running behind the scenes, even when the calendar says school’s out.

Story contributed by Director of Operations, Ed Jozefecick.

Special Education

For the second year, the Special Education Department administrators are holding a series of professional development meetings with our new certificated special education teachers. During these monthly meetings, we review Department/SELPA procedures that may be new to staff. Examples of topics include: Department structure, SEIS procedures, IEP meetings, Goal /progress report writing, and testing procedures. The specific topics covered are tailored to the needs of the group and have been shared with all of the Special Education staff via Department Update emails. These meetings are also an opportunity for new staff to get to know each other and share experiences.

Story contributed by Director of Special Education, Dr. Kris Vegas.

Student Services

MBUSD is excited to welcome Jeff Lee as the new Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) for Student Services. Partnering with Director of Student Services, Kerry Riccio Aguero, Jeff will help support and expand District initiatives such as the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, CSTAG (Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines), and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS).

A seasoned educator from Manhattan Beach Middle School, Jeff has served as Department Chair, Olweus Lead, PBIS Committee Member, Search and Rescue Lead, and former MBUTA Representative. While Jeff’s experience in education has been focused on the middle school, he is eager to branch out and support the work of our TK-12 students. Known for his reflective, analytical approach and strong relationships with staff and students, Jeff brings experience, enthusiasm, and heart to his new role.

Story contributed by Director of Student Services, Kerry Riccio Aguero.

Have a story idea or highlight you'd like to see featured in a future edition of Inside MBUSD?

We’d love to hear from you! Please email your suggestion to communication@mbusd.org for consideration.