Need info on the Long Beach Unified School District? Learn more about school system known as the Long Beach Unified School District…
The Unified School District of Long Beach services the majority of the Long Beach region and the entire city of Signals Hill. Some portions of Avalon, Paramount and Lakewood along with the two harbors located on Santa Catalina Island are also serviced by the Long Beach Unified School District.
Setting Precedents For Single Gender Classes And School Uniforms
It was actually under the Long Beach Unified School District that the first public middle schools started single gender classes. Only very few of the schools have followed this new trend because it is prohibited to discriminate on the basis of gender. However, the school discontinued this program because the test scores have been disappointing and the scheduling conflicts are increasing.
However, the uniform policy has been an immediate success. Since 1994 the Board of Education for this organization requested a requirement for school uniforms throughout elementary and middle school. It was the first largest urban school district in America to assign school uniforms. This was approved by the Governor of California. Parents could also opt out of this policy but only 2% of the students opted out. The assaults also dropped by two thirds and suspensions were reduced by one third. Interestingly enough, as the vandalism dropped the test scores of the students improved and attendance also rose. The uniform policy actually encourages support from parents and the community and it has been a precedent for other urban districts to adopt the school uniform policy.
District Award
The Long Beach Unified School District has won a $1 million board prize for urban education and it’s the largest prize awarded to the urban school districts. It has also in the past received a second grant from the Board Foundation for more than $1 million. The main reason for these awards is that the district has a constant effort in order to improve the school system by implementing the Baldridge strategies. In fact the seniors were also awarded scholarships under the Board Price College to the tune of half million dollars.
There are unusual schools that are one room school’s where you can have 12 students like the two harbors elementary school on Catalina Island.
Mergers in Secession Movements
Since the students of Lakewood are divided into four different schools there was a drive to form a new Lakewood Unified School District. However, the state has nine criteria for forming a new district, and until these are met the four schools known as Bellflower Unified School District, Paramount Unified School District and ABC Unified School District are to be retained under their previous structure. There was an active movement to breakaway. However, the petition signatures were acquired but the criteria were not matched. In fact, there are new plans to merge the Paramount school district into the Long Beach or Bellflower school districts.
