Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Update 2014
The new school year has begun and Palos Verdes home owners have changes in their Palos Verdes Schools. Even though controversial, the Common Core State Standards are going forward beginning with this school year. We also have a new Superintendent for Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District – Dr. Don Auston, who was the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services for the Huntington Beach Union High School District. The School Board unanimously approved a four year contract for Dr. Austin at the August 6, 2014, meeting, concluding that he had the right skills to build on PVPUSD’s foundation of outstanding academic achievement. Dr. Austin led his former district in implementing the Common Core State Standards. His work as Superintendent began on August 11, 2014, when he replaced Walker Williams, who will serve as the District’s Chief Executive Officer- Special Projects reporting to the school board until he retires in June 2015.
Also newly hired by the Board is Dr. Joanne Culverhouse, former principal of Laguna Beach High School. She will be serving as PVPUSD’s Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services. Dr. Culverhouse’s career spans three decades; she began as a teacher in Reno, Nevada. Later, she moved into principal positions at the elementary, middle and high school levels for the Laguna Beach Unified School District. Dr. Culverhouse and Dr. Austin have worked together for five years in Orange County where they collaborated daily to help those high achieving school districts.
We welcome them into the community. It was also recently reported that Palos Verdes High School and Palos Verdes Peninsula High School are both ranked within the top 55 of 735 of “The Daily Beast’s – Top High Schools 2014.” Out of the top 55 high schools on the list, PVHS and PVPHS are part of 6 on the list that are classified as “Regular, Open.” Other types of school categories included magnet, selective, lottery and charter. Our District was the only public school district in the nation with two comprehensive “regular, open” high schools in the top 100 on the rankings list. For more information on the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District go to www.pvpusd.k12.ca.us.
To read my prior article on the Palos Verdes School District click here.
Photo of Malaga Cove School, home of Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Offices by Arvin Design.
