Wednesday was the first day of school for more than 6,500 students and 757 school employees, as the Manhattan Beach Unified School District opened its doors for the 2018-19 school year.

"We enter this year focused on high quality instruction, with high expectations for all students, and with a heightened focus on personalized learning," said MBUSD Superintendent Mike Matthews in an email to parents.

The district hired 79 new employees over the summer. That number includes 21 certificated positions (teachers and administrators) and 58 classified positions (office staff, maintenance & operations, food service, instructional assistants, and more.) Thanks to the passage of Measure MB, there were no teaching or classified positions lost this year.

Also new this year, the MBUSD will serve as the home district for the region's deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students. The MBUSD has hired five DHH teachers, six sign language interpreters, and nine instructional assistants who specialize in ASL. The classes will be offered at the Manhattan Beach Preschool, Pennekamp Elementary, Meadows Elementary, Manhattan Beach MIddle School, and Mira Costa High School this year.

Matthews said that this year the district's emphasis will be on safety as well as personalized learning.

On Monday, the MBUSD employees gathered for a day of training on physical and emotional safety. They worked with staff from the Manhattan Beach Police Department, Manhattan Beach Fire Department, Children's Hospital L.A., the Beach Cities Health District, and the American Heart Association.