Beverly Hills Unified School District

Beverly Hills Unified School District building in 2015.

The Beverly Hills Unified School District, abbreviated BHUSD, is a school district based in Beverly Hills, California. It was unified into an elementary and high school district in 1936. Serving the city of Beverly Hills, it consists of four K-8 schools, one high school and a special education school.

History

The Los Angeles City High School District annexed the Beverly Hills elementary school district on August 18, 1921. The elementary school district unified on March 23, 1936 as it established high school operations, therefore separating it from the Los Angeles high school district.[1]

In June 2010 the BHUSD began to deny permits to allow out of district students at BHUSD schools to continue attending BHUSD, stirring local controversy.[2]

The district superintendent was Kari McVeigh, who was replaced upon her resignation by Dr. Jerry Gross. Most recently, Steve Kessler was appointed as the superintendent in July 2015. He's been with the district for 39 years. The previous superintendent was Dr. Jeffrey Hubbard, who accepted a position as the superintendent at the Newport-Mesa Unified School District in Orange County.[3] The current superintendent is Steve Kessler.

Board of Education

The BHUSD Board of Education consists of five members elected by the residents of Beverly Hills. Brian David Goldberg, Howard Goldstein, Lisa Korbatov, Lewis Hall, and Noah Margo are the current members of the school board. The student board member is Shawn Ahdout. Meetings are held bimonthly.

Demographics

The reputation of Beverly Hills Unified was one of the factors that attracted large numbers of Iranian Jews to the Beverly Hills area beginning in the 1970s.[4] By 1990 about 20% of the students of the BHUSD were Iranian, prompting the district to hire a counselor for Iranians and to write announcements in Persian. The Iranian Education Foundation donated money to the district.[5] In the BHUSD Nowruz is a school holiday.[6]

Schools

Beverly Hills High School

The District supports four elementary schools and one high school.

Elementary schools

Beverly Vista School

Beverly Vista School serves students in preschool through eighth grade in Beverly Hills. Established in 1924, the school enrolls 732 students in the 200 block of South Elm Drive. A new building B was dedicated on October 3, 2007. The Principal is Christian Fuhrer and the Vice Principal is Alyssa Para. Most Beverly Vista students continue on to Beverly Hills High School upon graduation.

Beverly Vista School was awarded the California Distinguished School Award in 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2004.[7] Beverly Vista School also received the No Child Left Behind - National Blue Ribbon Award in 2005.

Beverly Vista's B building includes a bell tower, an auditorium with a balcony, and classrooms for band, choir, kindergarten and preschool.

El Rodeo School

El Rodeo School serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade in Beverly Hills. Established in 1927, the school enrolls 743 students in its campus at 605 Whittier Drive. The Principal is Kevin Allen[8] and the Vice Principal is Kevin Painter. Most El Rodeo students continue on to Beverly Hills High School.

Kevin Painter first was a fifth grade teacher at Beverly Vista School before becoming Vice Principal.

Hawthorne School

Hawthorne School serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade in Beverly Hills. Established in 1914, the school enrolls approximately 600 pupils and occupies most of the 600 block of North Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills. It is the oldest elementary school in BHUSD. Among its alumni are Jack Abramoff and Monica Lewinsky. Most Hawthorne students continue on to Beverly Hills High School.

In 2014, Hawthorne received the California Distinguished School Award. Additionally, it was awarded with the National Schools to Watch Award in 2015.

Hawthorne had the highest Academic Performance Index score in the district for the 2007-2008 year, based on the California STAR tests.

Horace Mann School

Horace Mann School (named after Horace Mann, American education reformer, abolitionist, and congressman) serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade in Beverly Hills. Established in 1929, the school enrolls 723 students in its campus at 8701 Charleville Blvd. The Principal is Francisco "Harvey" Oaxaca and the Vice Principal is David Foldvary; most Horace Mann students continue on to Beverly Hills High School. On April 14, 2010, the School Board voted Steve Kessler, a middle school math and P.E. teacher at the school, as the new principal of Horace Mann. He took over as Principal on Thursday, July 1, 2010, in time for the 2010–2011 school year, and the previous principal, Dawnalyn Murakawa-Leopard, left to take on a higher position within BHUSD. Kessler was the first principal without a doctorate since 1972. Principal Steve Kessler has been named the superintendent of BHUSD effective June 1, 2015, and a new principal for Horace Mann School, Francisco "Harvey" Oaxaca, was selected.

On March 18, 1929, construction began on a two-story, 30-room Spanish style school building. In July, the school was named Horace Mann School, and 307 students and 11 teachers entered its doors in Kindergarten through sixth grade on December 9, 1929. The school was officially dedicated on March 21, 1930.[9] The first seventh grade students began attending in February 1930, and the first eighth graders arrived in the fall of 1930. The first graduating class of 30 students was in June 1930.[9] In 1932 and 1933, the school was expanded, closing off most of Arnaz Drive for playground space and to ensure safe passage for the students between the buildings. In 1962-63, the music, art and industrial arts wing were remodeled. In 1966, the auditorium was reconstructed, and in 1968, the school's tower building was opened. A faculty parking structure, with middle school classrooms above, was built in 1975. Additional property on Robertson Boulevard was acquired in the 1980s.[9]

Horace Mann has had six principals.[9]

Horace Mann School was awarded the California Distinguished School Award in 1987, 1997 , 2004 and 2008.[9] The school is ranked 639 of 5365 elementary schools in California[10] and is rated 93 on a 100 point scale.[11]

The Horace Mann PTA (Parent Teacher Association) is an all-volunteer, parent/teacher partnership organization. Teachers and administrators rely on PTA support to enhance and enable the academic and social experience for students at Horace Mann. Horace Mann PTA Presidents have a storied history of school and community involvement.

Horace Mann PTA Presidents:

1991-92:Deborah Mehrez(BHHS Grad 1978)

Secondary schools

References

  1. ↑ "LA City Schools Creation." Los Angeles Unified School District. February 7, 1998.
  2. ↑ Rivera, Carla. "Families' hopes are dashed as new Beverly Hills Unified policy ousts nonresident children from district schools." Los Angeles Times. July 25, 2010. Retrieved on July 30, 2010.
  3. ↑ Gutierrez-Jaime, Nisha (25 January 2012). "Update: Newport-Mesa School Board Fires Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard". Retrieved 6 March 2013. The former BHUSD superintendent will still be able to collect his six-figure pension.
  4. ↑ West, Kevin. "The Persian Conquest." W Magazine. July 2009. Retrieved on March 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ Mitchell, John L. "Iranian Jews Find a Beverly Hills Refuge : Immigrants: Khomeini's revolution drove 40,000 of them into exile. At least 30,000 may live in or near the city that symbolizes wealth." Los Angeles Times. February 13, 1990. Retrieved on March 11, 2015. p. 1.
  6. ↑ Geis, Sonya. "Iran Native Becomes Mayor of Beverly Hills." The Washington Post. Sunday April 1, 2007. Retrieved on March 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ Beverly Vista School Distinguished School
  8. ↑ http://er.bhusd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=225277&type=d&pREC_ID=500483
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Horace Mann School History
  10. ↑ Schooldigger profile Horace Mann School
  11. ↑ City-Data profile Horace Mann School

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