by Garth Meyer
Birney Elementary School teacher Jennifer Friedlander has been named the new principal of Beryl Heights Elementary, effective May 20.
She addressed the Redondo Unified school board April 30.
“I am thrilled and honored and grateful,” she said. “Beryl is a useful, tough material that when you mine it becomes a beautiful gem. … This is it. I hit the jackpot.”
Friedlander takes over for Dr. Maribel Galan, who has served as an interim principal since January, following Beryl school staff going to the school board last November to seek help with student behavioral problems. The district responded by adding counseling services and more instructional aide support.
“Dr. Galan did a great job,” said District Superintendent Nicole Wesley, noting in particular how Galan put in a new program called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS).
Galan did “a lot of listening,” Wesley said, spending time with PTA and addressing feedback.
As a result, the superintendent said, “We have seen a decrease in concerns being expressed. Dr. Galan did a great job working with individual families. There is still work to be done but she got us on a good path.”
Friedlander taught at Birney Elementary for six years, after coming to the RBUSD with six years’ previous teaching experience.
“I am very excited. I have had the opportunity to visit Beryl, attend various events, and meet stakeholders,” Friedlander said. “The Beryl community is strong and resilient. The students are exceptional, kind, outgoing and highly motivated. The staff is hardworking and dedicated and the families are incredibly supportive. Beryl is a gem in Redondo Beach!”
To hire the new principal, the district did an internal and external search, with candidates interviewing with a panel from the school – teachers, staff, a parent – and Wesley doing the final evaluation.
“It’s nice to hire from within and see our teachers grow to be leaders and administrators,” Wesley said. ER
