CHOICE Program
CHOICE Transition Education Specialists
Lareina Rodriguez | [email protected]
CHOICE is the MBUSD Special Education Transition program for individuals ages 18-22. CHOICE provides teachers, job mentors, and other support services that ensure our young adults learn all the skills necessary to improve long-term outcomes. CHOICE stands for community, healthy living, opportunity, independence, career, and emotional social well-being.
The CHOICE program incorporates the following skills into its weekly schedule:
Additionally, students in the CHOICE program can participate in volunteer nonpaid work experience set up through community-based instructional outings taught and guided by the Special Education Adult Transition Teachers and job coaches.
These locations have included MB Creamery, Fish Bar Restaurant, MB Parks and Recreation, Loyola Marymount University, and MBUSD school worksites. Students can volunteer at these sites pending student interest/readiness, staffing, transportation access, and job site hours of availability.
The Made by CHOICE Pop-Up Store provides work experiences for the students of the CHOICE program while promoting inclusion in our community and workplace. The Pop-Up Store products are designed, created, and sold by CHOICE students with the guidance of support staff.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Regional Program
MBUSD is the home of the SouthWest SELPA’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) Total Communication Regional Program. We provide services to Deaf and Harding of Hearing students within our District and eleven other surrounding Districts. Our program starts at Manhattan Beach Preschool and continues through elementary school at Pennekamp, Manhattan Beach Middle School, and Mira Costa High School.
Our passionate and skilled teams consist of seven Teachers of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing, American Sign Language Interpreters, Instructional Aides who are fluent in sign language, Speech and Language Pathologists, Audiologists, a D/HH School Psychologist, and other support providers, based on individual needs. These teams provide language-rich environments that meet the needs of all D/HH students by utilizing American Sign Language and written and spoken English.