Redondo Beach High School principal Bridi meets students

Redondo Union High School’s newly appointed principal Anthony Bridi with Pat Dreizler in Nov. 2018, when Redondo Shores Continuation School was renamed in Dreizler’s honor. At the time Bridi was Shore’s principal Photo by Kevin Cody

by Garth Meyer

He never knew his own high school principal, and now he wants to be the high school principal whom all his students know.

Anthony Bridi, Redondo Union High School’s  new principal, intends to learn the name of every student before they graduate. 

But first they needed to come back to campus, which the kids did in August for the first time since spring 2020. 

“There’s just a lot of movement, there’s more volume,” he said of his new position.

Bridi’s grandmother and grandfather were both educators. After earning a history degree at San Diego State, he joined San Diego Unified School District as an instructional assistant. He came to Redondo Union in 2003 as a long-term substitute, before joining staff as a sixth-grade world history teacher. 

His favorite period is the medieval era.

Bridi, 45, has worked in the district for 17 years.

A Torrance native, he played midfielder and was a captain of the Torrance High School soccer team and a safety/receiver in football. 

What’s the biggest surprise so far in his first month as RUHS principal?

“I think, overall, just how fast-paced this high school is. This place never sleeps,” Bridi said.

As for learning those names, he’s adding them daily. 

He introduces himself in classroom visits, and now that students know of his goal, some come up to him.

“I have a lot of students introduce themselves to me. I’m gonna make it happen. When I went to high school, and this is not a (criticism) of him,  but I don’t know if I ever met my principal.”

Bridi is married with three children; a boy, 7, and five-year old twins, a boy and a girl. 

He graduated from Torrance High in 1995, a time in which the school had four computers in the library with internet access.

“Now every student carries one with them,” Bridi said. 

Fall sports are bustling and plans take shape for an outdoor Homecoming dance Oct. 2. 

“I love being principal here, I’m a Sea Hawk at heart,” Bridi said. ER

 

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