The Manhattan Beach School District is a highly coveted place to educate your kids. Recently, Newsweek Magazine rated Manhattan Beach's only high school, Mira Costa, #341 out of the top 500 US high schools. If you're not impressed, you should know that there are about 17,000 high school in the country!
Having a graduation rate of 95.7%, Mira Costa High School was named a California distinguished School in 2011. Mira Costa is hailed as one of the top 1.3% schools in California with an API score above 900 and came in at number 15 in ESPN's Fab 50 list.
The Mira Costa choir had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall and was given the Jerry Herman Award for best musical for their production of “Peter Pan”. Only three schools nationwide were given the Grammy Signature Gold award and Mira Costa was one!
They offer 19 AP courses and 25 Career Technical Education Courses and have a student/teacher ratio of 25:1 which is lower than most; 97 teachers currently serve about 2000 students. The school is undergoing a $53 million rehab and improvement project.
The only game in town for middle school is Manhattan Beach Middle School, which has also been named a California Distinguished School.
The school focuses on helping kids explore their choices and make good life and career decisions through co-curricular programs.
Every student has an iPad which they use at for work at school and at home and use it with SIS- their Student Information System. This web-based system puts demographics, courses, grades and attendance among other things right at students and parents' fingertips.
The Scholar Quiz happens every year and is a fun, Jeopardy-like game in which over 600 students participate. Spring brings The Time Warner Cable Science Night , where students and their families participate in 50 workshops and activities like Forensics projects, a Plankton Lab, Pure Energy laser demonstration and Surgeons Table.
Manhattan Beach Senior Citizens are invited throughout the year to special events like chorale concerts, choir, dance and plays.
Pennekamp Elementary ranks number 5 in the state and is also California Distinguished School. Achieving its growth targets each year, Pennekamp has an API score of 946, and has a teacher student ratio of 20:1.
The school has lots of fun programs with education in mind. The Grades of Green program teaches kids about being “green” and recycling with activities like Trashless Tuesdays and Walk to School Wednesdays.
The Growing Great program gives students their own organic garden where they grow and experience new foods as they learn about sustainable food production, life cycles, seasonality, Kids get to plant, grow, harvest and sell the veggies and fruits they raised.
The PACE Afterschool Enrichment Program and The Extended Day Program provide help with homework and fun with sports, crafts and science.
Meadows Elementary School rated number 8 in the state of California and is also a California Distinguished School. With a student teacher ratio is 20:1, the API score is 961 and the. Class sizes are about 22 students through 3rd grade and 31 students for 4th and 5th grades.
Like Pennekamp, Meadows offers the Growing Great and Grades of Green programs. Also on offer is the Young at Art art appreciation program where kids learn about and have hands on experience with art.
The Meadows Running Club offers a morning run before school 4 days a week and is active from September through May.
Robinson Elementary School is a California Distinguished School and has about 400 kids with a student teacher ratio of 20:1.
Ranking number 10 in the state, Robinson’s API Score is 965.
Robinson Elementary offers tons of extra-curricular activities. The school organizes the Family Fun Run, the Walking School Bus, the Halloween Parade, Meet the Masters and the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk along with a bunch of other fun stuff.
Known as the home of the Panthers, Pacific Elementary School maintains an API score of 968 which is steadily on the rise. Test scores are higher than the California average and the kids have better CST test scores that any other Manhattan Beach school. It's also been recognized as a California Distinguished School and a California Service Learning Leader School.
Pacific enrolls about 700 students yearly and maintains a student teacher ratio of 23:1
There are lots of volunteer opportunities at Pacific including helping with the Grades of Green, Growing Great, Young At Art and Paw Prints programs.
Grand View Elementary School celebrates its 75 anniversary in 2015, is a Green Ribbon School and has a wonderful volunteer program which hosts lots family activities. The “Home of the Gators” is ranked 10 out of 10 in the state and has an API score of 900+.
The Gator Afterschool Program (GAP) offers activities which include academic enrichment programs, physical education and athletic events.
Encouraging physical activities and exercise, the Run Club offers a monthly Run Day before school and kids are welcome to bring their friends and parents.
There is one preschool in Manhattan Beach; it's aptly named Manhattan Beach Preschool and it's recognized as one of the best preschools in the South Bay.
The school offers very flexible scheduling and a regular program, a Preschool Plus program and a special program for 2 year-olds with extended hours. A low student teacher ratio is maintained and the school's primary focus is to provide learning through creativity and fun. They also offer daytime summer camps in the summer months.
Students with special needs are well taken care of, with occupational and physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, special education teachers, and school psychologists. Parents are invited to tour the facilities.
If you'd like more info on any school or would like to know which schools are in the neighborhood you're cosidering, call me anytime at (310) 418-5353!
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