CRT School Community Read
In the spring of 2017, lead teachers formed an initiative to bring more community immediacy to instruction. Hoping to address some of the concerning issues observed around campus and on a larger national scale, a consensus was reached between collaborating teachers from multiple departments to attempt a cultural shift on campus. This was the beginning of the formal introduction of Culturally Relevant Teaching (CRT) to the PVHS learning community. For the first time, a universal summer reading book was selected, intended to be read by every student at every grade and ability level, as well as by all faculty and staff. After establishing selection criteria, recommendations are collected. Prospective titles are read and reviewed by faculty and advising students. After multiple meetings and discussions throughout the school year the title is selected. English as well as CRT Lead teachers collaborate throughout the summer to bring in current and relevant articles and media to the classroom in order to more meaningfully help engage the students. CRT lead teachers from the AVID, English, World Language, and History departments created a model curriculum for teaching the titles. A portion of the campus staff development day in August is dedicated to workshopping the use of the summer reading book in all classes and training in CRT. Teachers are invited to use the developed curriculum and resources curated for addressing and teaching the school-wide summer reading book. This work is followed up within departments and in interdisciplinary collaboration, namely between the history and English departments. CRT continues to be an ongoing pursuit on our campus.
Palos Verdes High School. 2018 WASC Report: Focus on Learning Self-Study Report. 2018, pp. 230.  pvhs.pvpusd.net

Past Titles:

2019-2020
Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy (YA Adapted).
(2018) Nonfiction
  • ALA Booklist (starred review): “A passionate account of the ways our nation thwarts justice and inhumanely punishes the poor and disadvantaged. ... Compassionate and compelling, Stevenson’s narrative is also unforgettable.”
  • Kirkus Reviews (starred review, Kirkus Prize Finalist): “A deeply moving collage of true stories. . . . This is required reading. ... A distinguished NYU law professor and MacArthur grant recipient offers the compelling story of the legal practice he founded to protect the rights of people on the margins of American society. . . . Emotionally profound, necessary reading.”​
  • Desmond Tutu ( Nobel Peace Prize Laureate): “Bryan Stevenson is America’s young Nelson Mandela, a brilliant lawyer fighting with courage and conviction to guarantee justice for all. Just Mercy should be read by people of conscience in every civilized country in the world to discover what happens when revenge and retribution replace justice and mercy. It is as gripping to read as any legal thriller, and what hangs in the balance is nothing less than the soul of a great nation.”
  • The Washington Post: "Inspiring . . . a work of style, substance and clarity . . . Stevenson is not only a great lawyer, he’s also a gifted writer and storyteller.”
  • Michelle Alexander (author of The New Jim Crow): "Bryan Stevenson is one of my personal heroes, perhaps the most inspiring and influential crusader for justice alive today, and Just Mercy is extraordinary. The stories told within these pages hold the potential to transform what we think we mean when we talk about justice.”

2018-2019
Cammie McGovern's A Step Toward Falling.
(2015) YA, Realistic Fiction
  • New York Times Book Review : “Universal human emotions and challenges link the characters across boundaries of gender, class, and I.Q. This is a beautiful, big-hearted book with important lessons embedded in compelling stories of two irresistible girls. Expertly executed and movingly realized.”
  • Publishers Weekly (starred review) : “Without evading or sugarcoating difficult topics, McGovern shows that disabled and able aren’t binary states but part of a continuum—a human one.”
  • School Library Journal (starred review) : “ Highly recommended for realistic fiction collections.”
  • ALA Booklist (starred review) : “McGovern’s ample experience with special needs youth is evident, as it allows this unique story shine from within.”​
  • Kirkus Reviews : “The sensitive overview of tough issues gracefully balances romance with reality. Fans of Jane Austen will appreciate this unconventional homage.”

2017-2018
Melba Pattillo Beals' Warriors Don't Cry (Abridged)
(1964) Narrative Nonfiction - memoir
  • Washington Post:  "There is no putting Warriors Don't Dry Down. ... Melba Beals gives us a history lesson, a civics lesson, and as true a story of coming of age in America at a certain time and place as one could hope to find."
  • Kirkus Review:  "Profoundly uplifting. ... The sense of immediacy in Beals's well-crafted account makes the events seem like they happened yesterday."
  • Library Journal:  "Beals ... writes movingly. ... A highly readable tale of courage in the face of persecution that deserves to be read, especially by young people."
  • New York Times Book Review:  "Ms. Beals's story is vivid and moving."
  • San Francisco Chronicle:  "Riveting ... monumentally important ... a rare and eloquent behind-the-scenes look at the 1957 integration of Central High."
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