Laguna Beach Unified continues focus on ‘whole child,’ rolls out preschool program
Laguna Beach Unified School District has turned much of its focus to attending to the needs of the “whole child,” as District Supt. Jason Viloria explains it.
At this time last year, district officials excitedly introduced a student well space on campus at Laguna Beach High and a districtwide family resource center.
A well space has since been added at Thurston Middle School, and much like the high school setup, the student support specialist will have offices next door. The facility was built over the summer, a district spokesperson said. It has been equipped with controllable lighting to help balance the mood of its visitors. The well space is expected to open in the first month of the school year.
Viloria said the district wanted to establish relationships with students in hopes that they would feel comfortable sharing their concerns and feel motivated to do well. As time goes on, he added that the focus will move to understanding students on an individual level.
“One of the areas that we’re shifting to this next year is not just having that relationship where you feel comfortable talking about a problem that you might have, but that you feel as though someone on campus knows about you as a person — your strengths, your interests,” Viloria said. “We started doing a little bit of that last year, where we’ve been leveraging technology to help us with that, but it’s going to be kind of a bigger push this year.”
Classes begin on Thursday, Aug. 22, and the district is ready to bring new families into the fold.
For the first time, preschool is being offered at El Morro Elementary. A district spokesperson said the preschool is at capacity, which is set at about 30 students. The district preschool runs five days per week, and it is a tuition-based program at a monthly fee of $1,200.
Transitional kindergarten offerings also are providing flexibility for working families or those with kids in multiple grade levels.
“We’re trying to find a way to continue to meet the needs of our community,” Viloria added. “We’re expanding our [transitional kindergarten]. We have aftercare for transitional kindergarten now because [it] is [a] half-day [schedule]. …
“If you’re a family and you have students in school, and you have a [transitional kindergartener], it can be hard to have to pick your child up halfway through, so we rolled out extended care. … If you’re a [morning transitional kindergartener], you can sign up for [afternoon] childcare and stay the whole time as your sibling.”
District data provided Tuesday showed a total enrollment of 2,315 students. The numbers include 817 students at Laguna Beach High School, 533 at Thurston Middle School, 535 at Top of the World Elementary and 402 at El Morro Elementary.
Top of the World welcomes fresh leadership in new principal Thomas Turner, whose education includes a bachelor’s degree in business administration from USC and a juris doctorate from the University of San Diego.
Turner, who previously served as the executive director of educational services for the Orange County Department of Education, expressed a desire to meet students where their interests lie to get them looking forward to coming to class.
Asked what he believed would be feasible to achieve in the first year, Turner said it would start with listening to the stakeholders in the parents, the teachers and the students.
“Each one brings a different perspective, and it shapes what you as a leader want to do on campus,” Turner said. “That’s the most important thing. I’m pretty simple. Let’s talk about literacy, let’s talk about math, let’s talk about the culture of the school. Let’s get into the school environment so that kids want to go to school. Those are my three things that will probably be our goal every year.”
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