Nothing is normal in 2020, but the Long Beach Poly girls’ swimming program didn’t allow the shortened COVID-19 season to end a special tradition. Since 2000, the Judy Oatey Scholarship has been awarded to the senior Poly girls’ swimmer with the highest GPA. The scholarship started as a way to remember and honor the late […]
Long Beach Poly
LBUSD Board Votes To End Moore League Transfer Rule
The Long Beach Unified School District’s Board of Education voted to abolish its one-year ineligibility rule for student-athletes transferring between Moore League schools at last week’s board meeting. The vote passed unanimously, 5-0, undoing the rule which had been on the books since March 17, 2015. The rule has been widely decried by Moore League […]
High School Seniors Celebrated With Yard Signs
From dancing at prom to walking the graduation stage, the Class of 2020 has missed out on a lot this spring. While isolated at home, separated from teachers and classmates, seniors have had to miss out on celebrating the culmination of their high school years. Local schools are well aware of the struggles their seniors […]
Long Beach Poly Volleyball Coach Steps Down
Longtime Long Beach Poly girls’ volleyball coach Leland McGrath confirmed he is stepping down as coach of the Jackrabbits after 13 years. McGrath’s Jackrabbits won the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship in 2010 and won six Moore League championships. He leaves a Poly team that is absolutely packed with talent next year, headlined by […]
Long Beach Sports World Reacts To Protests
This past weekend, for the first time in months, the nation’s attention shifted away from the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions about face masks, testing, and reopening businesses quickly shifted to a fervent, open dialogue about race and police brutality in America following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Long Beach was very much a part […]
PODCAST: Talking Long Beach Education & Mental Health Month
This week on the podcast is “Education Week” as we talk to Jordan High School teacher Shar Higa about what it’s been like adjusting to teaching online and delivering senior signs for graduation celebrations. We also catch up with Talese Fernbach for another “Mental Note” segment in recognition of May being Mental Health Month. […]
NFHS Offers Guidelines for Return of High School Sports
As the current school year comes to a close, attention has already begun to shift towards the fall, and whether high school sports can safely return across the country. On May 15, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) released the “Guidance for Opening Up High School Athletics and Activities” in an effort […]
LBUSD Officials Outline Beginnings of Fall 2020 Plan
In an interview last week, current Long Beach Unified School District superintendent Chris Steinhauser and incoming LBUSD superintendent Jill Baker outlined the first stages of the LBUSD’s plan to return to school when the 2020-21 school year begins on September 1. “It’s closer to what has been known as school,” said Baker, who will take […]
Writing The Story of 2020’s Missing League, CIF Championships
With this week’s scheduled CIF Southern Section championships canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will officially be a blank line across the record books. Before we close the book on 2019-20, we wanted to take a look at a few of the league and CIF-SS/State championships we expected to be covering this May–just because […]
Local Schools Bracing For Major Budget Cuts
Last week, California governor Gavin Newsom released his May Revision to the proposed budget for for the 2020-21 fiscal year. Because of a $54 billion deficit associated with revenue loss due to COVID-19 shutdowns, there are significant cuts to education, a harsh blow for the city of Long Beach, where the Long Beach Unified School […]