October 2023

Dear RBUSD Students & Families,

There’s so much to highlight this month at all RBUSD grade levels and schools. We are excited to share some of the ways we’re improving student achievement, harnessing the power of kindness through social emotional learning, and preparing RUHS and PDHS students for their post-secondary goals. As always, thank you for your partnership!

Your Superintendent, 

Nikki Wesley, Ed.D.

Throughout this second year of our elementary literacy adoption, students are collaboratively engaging in rich, knowledge-building texts, academic discussions, and purposeful evidence-based writing.

We are thrilled to expand Fundations, a systematic foundational reading program, into grade 3 this year and continue to be amazed with students’ progress. We encourage all of our families to pay particular attention to the Wit & Wisdom Module Family Tip Sheets that provide module content, a list of all texts read in the module, sample questions to ask, and other activities that extend students’ thinking at home. 

RBUSD strives to communicate clearly with families regarding student progress. With the adoption of a new curriculum, we felt it was important to review our reporting tools. Your input is valuable to our Elementary Report Card Committee. If you are an elementary parent/guardian, you still have until the end of the month to take the next 15-20 minutes to complete this survey, which will inform committee recommendations and drive decision making. All responses are anonymous. Our goal is to recreate an elementary report card that allows teachers to communicate student progress in a more simplified and meaningful way. 

This month, both Adams and Parras kicked off a kindness campaign with random acts of kindness (RAK) and an advisement lesson helping students understand what it means to be an upstander (standing up for a person vs. passively witnessing something as a bystander), the definition of bullying, and how to support a friend who’s being bullied.

Students discussed this video made by RBUSD students advocating for acceptance of differences. Students are learning strategies to manage conflict and when and how to report a situation to an adult. This year, both middle schools are kicking off the use of an online incident reporting system, Sprigeo, which allows students to report a concern to administration with the option to remain anonymous (RUHS also has this tool).The Sprigeo link can always be found under the Student section of the Parras homepage and the main page of the Adams website. 

Parras counselors organize "The Hang Out Spot" (pictured below) during lunch to encourage positive interactions between students, while Adams has a Wellness Center open every day via appointment and drop-in as a safe space for students to hang out as well as a engage in various social emotional workshops.

At RUHS, we’re lucky to have The Nest, a resource that benefits all Juniors and Seniors with accessible counseling as they mature from fledglings to Sea Hawks soaring to new places all over the world! Throughout the college application process, students and families have access to Individual Counseling Meetings, 11/12th Grade Student/Parent Information Presentations, College Application Workshops, College Visits, Financial Aid Information, Community College Outreach, and more. 

If you’re a parent of a freshman, we encourage you to attend our four-year planning event on October 30 at 8:15 AM in the RUHS library. And lastly, if you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting our college counselors, I’m honored to introduce them to you below.

Katie Menschner (left, above) joined The Nest at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. She has a bachelor's degree in Journalism from Drake University and worked in television for 10 years before switching to education. She taught 5th grade and spent eight years working in college admissions, first for Drake University and most recently for New York University. She is also a proud Redondo parent with kids in three different RBUSD schools. She can be found at football games, cross country meets, water polo games, and other events supporting her kids and her students.



This is Cristina Bishop’s (right, above) second year working as one of our College Counselors. A former Sea Hawk (‘09), and El Camino College alumni, she transferred to UCLA where she received her Bachelors in Sociology. She returned to RUHS in 2015 working as an AVID Tutor, where her passion for school counseling and the college admissions world blossomed. From there, she received her Masters in Counseling at University of San Diego. Mrs. Bishop is proud to be a Sea Hawk and enjoys connecting with students to help them reach their college and career goals.

Until next time, join the journey on Instagram.

Join the Journey @RedondoBeachUSD