MBUSD Board of Trustees hosts workshop for Common Core between public, staff

By Kathryn Cross
Staff Writer

The Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees hosted a workshop on Nov. 19 at Pacific Elementary School’s cafeteria to discuss Common Core, 2014-15 board goals, and address specific concerns regarding the newly enacted Common Core initiative.

MBUSD has been implementing the new CCSS, a new set of state standards that focus on critical thinking and real-world learning goals.

“It sounded like teachers were very excited about the professional development,” Executive Director of Educational Services Dr. Brett Geithman said. “They want time to collaborate, so we are going to look at how to build in that collaboration time.”

Geithman facilitated a discussion between teachers and school administrators about how to implement and acclimate teachers to CCSS.

“We would be more effective if we had the time that we need to collaborate in our own classrooms,” Pacific Elementary School kindergarten teacher Linessa Patterson said. “We should also have researchers, professors in colleges and teaching experts give a different level of teaching than primary and secondary school teachers can.”

Manhattan Beach Education Foundation Executive Director Farnaz Golshani Flechner later presented an MBEF survey that polled MBUSD parents and teachers about what skills they wanted students to develop through CCSS.

The survey showed that MBUSD parents prioritized giving MBEF grants to academic programs, personalization and character development, while MBUSD teachers prioritized MBEF funding for character development, social responsibility and focus on teachers or professional development.

“To further prepare teachers and students for CCSS, the district will need to focus on teacher professional development to further strengthen our academic program,” Flechner said.