Ed.D. in Educational Administration, 2000
School of Education
December 1, 2012
Superintendent of Redondo Beach Unified School District Values His “Dream Job”
Dr. Steven Keller, Superintendent of the Redondo Beach Unified School District, is a 2000 graduate of the UCI/UCLA Joint Ed.D. in Educational Administration. Although one of his prouder accomplishments is the short nature of his dissertation as an Anteater, he is better known for his marked impact since becoming an educational leader some 26 years ago.
Dr. Keller has served in a variety of districts with diverse demographics from Baldwin Park to Laguna Beach. After graduating from Pitzer College and, shortly thereafter, The Claremont University, he was a middle school teacher and assistant principal in Rancho Cucamonga. In the same community, he became an elementary school principal at the tender age of 28.
“From there, I became a hard-charging middle school principal in Fullerton, and then a Director of Student Achievement in the Baldwin Park Unified School District, focusing most of my attention on underperforming schools.”
In his next venture, the Laguna Beach Unified School District, Steven stepped into a new context, serving as the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction as well as Human Resources for five years. His focus in Laguna Beach was “the whole child,” and as Steven points out,
Laguna parents truly cherished our focus on students’ social, emotional, physical, and academic needs.
From Laguna Beach, Steven landed what he calls his “dream job” as Superintendent of Schools in Redondo Beach Unified School District at the age of forty-one and has thrived in this position for nearly seven years.
I’m currently working on closing a $150 million general obligation bond for RBUSD’s schools and recently put an additional $63 million measure on the November ballot to bring solar and technological advancements to the district. With its passage, not only will the district be at the forefront for this technology in schools, but also this will relieve the district’s general fund budget of millions of dollars annually.
It is creative solutions and quick action that have made Dr. Keller well respected and distinguished in his field. For example, anyone who visits Redondo Union High School will be mesmerized at the complete campus makeover of a once tired 100+ year high school (see notation below). In recognition of his accomplishments, Dr. Keller was named ACSA Region 14 Superintendent of the Year in 2010.
In commenting on his time in the UCI/UCLA Joint Ed.D. program, Dr. Keller reflects,
I learned to think more critically, I improved my writing skills, and I embraced a more spirited discourse with staff members and the community. For that, I’m very proud and thankful of my experience while at UCI. UCI and UCLA professors were able to connect the thorny synergy of theory and practice, something that does not seem to be addressed in most educational doctoral programs today.
Dr. Keller has two children, Jaxon, a junior at Colorado College, and Sloan. His wife, Kelli, is a Blue Ribbon School principal in the Orange Unified School District.
Photograph: President Clinton delivered the keynote address for the 2012 Redondo Union High School graduation.
