Maggie Bove-LaMonica, assistant director of the LMU Family of Schools and an alumna of the LMU School of Education and Loyola Law School, was elected to a four-year term on the Hermosa Beach City School District Board in December 2013. The K-8 school district is located in Los Angeles’ South Bay and serves 1,400 students across two schools.
“We are facing incredible new opportunities and challenges with the introduction of the Common Core State Standards and the implementation of California’s Local Control Funding Formula,” says Bove-LaMonica. “Both of these policy changes require a substantial amount of community dialogue and engagement to create the greatest amount of impact for our students. In a city like Hermosa Beach, with 20,000 residents and a district of 1,400 students, I’m excited about reaching out to the different stakeholders and ensuring their participation in the funding and curriculum decisions for our students.”
Since 2009 Bove-LaMonica has worked with the LMU Family of Schools, a partnership between the university and the schools in the Westchester/Playa community that promotes student success and educational equity for all students. The collaborative focuses on the key issues of school culture and climate, academic achievement and college and career-readiness.
“One of the best things about the work in the LMU Family of Schools is that we build bridges with the entire community and engage with a multitude of stakeholders,” says Bove-LaMonica. “As a native of Hermosa Beach, I am excited about this opportunity to give back to my community as a member of the school board. Continuing to bring people together to have honest and thoughtful conversations about our community’s future is something to which I’m really looking forward to.”
Bove-LaMonica served in the Peace Corps in Morocco, has taught in the classroom at Verbum Dei, an all-boys high school in South Central Los Angeles, and is an alumna of Education Pioneers in the San Francisco Bay Area. A native of Los Angeles and an avid surfer, Bove-LaMonica resides in Hermosa Beach with her husband and their dog.
