Sophia Strauss left and Sarah Hoffmeister, right, celebrate following their graduation from Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, CA, and a walk along the Strand path from Hermosa Beach Pier to the Manhattan Beach Pier, right, on Thursday, June 11, 2020. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
MANHATTAN BEACH EPITOMIZES THE American dream, SoCal style. Here, Aviator Nation isn’t so much a brand as a way of life, worn alike by volleyball moms and their kin. The city, where the median home price has skyrocketed to $3.3 million and the population is about 75% white, is a study in relaxed affluence. It’s less aggressively glam than neighborhoods up the coast like Brentwood and Bel-Air. Sure, Volvo SUVs reign, but most kids attend public school, transporting themselves there and back on e-bikes. Social status is less about country club membership and more about which club sports team your kid is on and whether they made Junior Guards.
For many families, the community’s prized asset — perhaps even ahead of its wide, surf-perfect beach — is its public school system. The eight campuses have a private-school feel, with sparkling buildings, athletic facilities to rival a high-end college, and parent-paid-for-perks such as a “makerspace,” a music program that starts in kindergarten, and reading specialists, librarians and counselors galore.
“All you ever hear about is how Manhattan Beach schools have all the funding, all the money. That’s sort of the perception,” said Alison Burmeister, whose daughter enrolled at Mira Costa High School, the district’s crown jewel, after Palisades High School burned last year.
You’ve reached your free article limit this month.
Upgrade now to gain unlimited access to L.A. Material’s reporting. Your support helps us keep really good, really independent journalism alive in Los Angeles.
Upgrade now
