LAUSD mourns passing of Dr. Robert Briggerman

Educators mourn passing of Dr. Robert Briggerman

Longtime educator, former Principal of Weaver passes after brief illness

The Los Alamitos Unified School District on Friday announced the death of Dr. Robert Briggerman, the principal of Robert L. Weaver Elementary in Rossmoor, following a brief illness. He was 54.

“It is with a heavy heart that I let you know that our beloved Robert Briggerman, affectionately known as ‘Dr. B’, has passed away,” said a statement issued by Dr. Sherry Kropp. She said Briggerman’s condition was diagnosed in November, after which there were “periods of time in which he was getting better.”

“Unfortunately, he took a turn for the worse this week and passed away from heart failure (Thursday) night at Long Beach Memorial.

“This is a devastating loss for our entire Los Al family.  He was our dear colleague and friend, and we will miss him greatly. We are still in shock and beyond heartsick,” said Kropp.

According to LAUSD, Briggerman began his career as a Spanish teacher at LAHS, was an assistant principal at McAuliffe, and a principal at Lee. For the past three years, he was the Principal at Jack L. Weaver Elementary School in Rossmoor.

Briggerman “cultivated life-long friendships throughout our District, and he will always hold a special place in our hearts,” said Kropp.

A lifelong educator, Briggerman wrote that “the staff at Weaver believes that ALL children can learn and succeed. Our signature instructional practices provide students with a rigorous academic experience.”

His philosophy and strong commitment paid huge dividends for Weaver’s students. Weaver Elementary, in Rossmoor, ranked No. 1 in Orange County on the most recent tests of both English language arts and math, Principal Robert Briggerman announced at a 2017 meeting of the Los Alamitos Unified School District board.

“Fresh on the heels of being named a 2017 National Blue-Ribbon School for raising achievement levels of all students, Weaver posted scores that showed an average 94 percent of students in grades 3-5 met or exceeded state standards in English Language Arts, and the same percentage tested at that level in math,” he said. Briggerman said then that results place Weaver at No. 3 in California in both areas.

Briggerman thanked both the school staff and the parent community for “working so hard to make this happen and never stopped trying to improve.

“Does that mean we don’t have any work to do? Of course not. Until we reach 100 percent, we still need to reach out and meet the needs of those families that we still need to serve,” he said.