When San Dimas High School junior and athletic standout Tiffany Villegas was just four years old, she joined her brother’s Little League T-Ball team, getting her first taste of competition on a baseball diamond. Switching to softball as a kindergartner, Villegas quickly developed into a five-tool prospect, moving to travel softball at 10 years old. Now, Villegas is set to fulfill her dream of playing softball for an elite university, as well as attend an Ivy League school, after committing to the application process at Harvard University for the 2027-28 school year. Villegas, who has a 4.5 GPA, plans to major in biology on her way to medical school and is interested in a career as an anesthesiologist.
Lone Hill Middle School’s Where Everybody Belongs (WEB) program is strengthening campus culture by helping sixth graders transition into middle school and providing eighth-grade students with meaningful leadership opportunities. Now in her third year overseeing the program, adviser Katryna Estrada has developed WEB as a key driver of inclusivity and student connection on campus.
San Dimas High School junior Jacqueline Chen first displayed her athletic prowess at nine years old, when she took a 15-foot dive off a cliff in Cancun, Mexico. Since then, her athleticism has taken her across the globe to international competitions, where she has won numerous medals. Soon she will make another big jump, to the Ivy League, after verbally committing to Harvard University. It has been a whirlwind year for Chen, who recently qualified, along with her sister, San Dimas freshman Barbara Chen, for the 2026 Asian Games, where they will represent Chinese Taipei. The Chen sisters earned a bronze medal in the Women’s Synchronized 3M Final competition at the Asian Aquatics Championships, held in India in September.
Sleigh bells will be ringing on Christmas Eve for the Bonita High School Chamber Singers as they deck the halls for the 66th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration, to be held at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, a festive night that showcases the artistry, talent, and cultural traditions of nearly two dozen Southern California-based artists at the storied concert venue. Bonita’s 32-member Chamber Singers will share the stage with a diverse cross-section of L.A. County’s finest performance acts, including singers, dancers, puppeteers, and brass bands. Each act will perform for five minutes during a live in-person show that will be broadcast live on PBS SoCal on Wednesday, Dec. 24 from 3 to 6 p.m. The Chamber Singers will perform during between 5 to 6 p.m.
Eight Bonita Unified educators will bring hands-on, play-based classroom projects to life after receiving more than $3,300 in mini-grants from the Rotary Club of La Verne, which continued its tradition of supporting innovation across the District during the Dec. 3 Board of Education meeting. The service organization awarded individual grants ranging from $150 to $500, providing teachers with resources that strengthen academic engagement, build developmental skills, and enrich the learning environment for students across grade levels.
Rich harmonies and melodious joy echoed through the University of Redland’s Memorial Chapel in November, heralding the Southern California Vocal Association’s (SCVA) annual Southern California Regional Honor Choirs performances, which featured 31 Bonita Unified vocalists among the 250-member choirs – 29 from Bonita High School and two from San Dimas High School. This is the second consecutive year that Bonita Unified singers have dominated the SCVA Honor Choirs, highlighting the success of the District’s Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) program, which encourages students to begin studying music in fourth grade, then provides them with top-level instruction throughout elementary, middle, and high school.
Thirty-three Bonita Unified School District educators received more than $13,000 in teacher mini-grants from the La Verne/San Dimas Educational Foundation (LVSDEF) during the Nov. 5 Board of Education meeting, aimed at bolstering hands-on and engaging educational experiences. The grants will fund projects that strengthen instruction in literacy, science, arts, technology, and collaborative learning. Educators will use the funds to purchase classroom tools, and provide resources that support growth in key academic areas.
For more than 40 years, Bonita Unified School District has brought Tongva culture to life through “Hands on History: Native American Days,” an interactive field trip highlighting the artistry, traditions, and daily life of the Tongva people, who once lived throughout the region. Fourth-grade students from across the District participated in this year’s program at the California Botanical Garden in Claremont, engaging with six learning stations led by substitute teachers and parent volunteers, experiencing traditional games, ceremonies, crafts, food gathering and preparation, and hunting practices.
Laughter filled the Bonita Center for the Arts (BCA) as Ramona Middle School drama students took the stage for the school’s annual Comedy Improv Game Night, an evening full of quick thinking, teamwork, and confidence building.
The event, hosted on Oct. 17 by the Ramona Drama Society and Drama Society Parent Board, gave junior thespians a low-pressure opportunity to perform in front of their families and peers while building confidence and stage presence. Designed to welcome new students into the world of theater, the event featured multiple teams guided by student captains, who helped organize and lead the games each broken up by a series of monologues – creating a night that blended learning, leadership, and laughter.
Bonita Unified ProStart culinary students rubbed elbows with some of the top executive chefs and restauranteurs in the state as they displayed their award-winning skills at the California Restaurant Foundation’s (CRF) biggest fundraiser of the year, The Grateful Table, which raised nearly $300,000 to support California Cares, a relief fund for California restaurant workers. Held in September at the Del Mar Racetrack, The Grateful Table saw ProStart students from San Dimas and Bonita high schools work side by side with many renowned California chefs, including guest of honor Guy Fieri, to prepare a gourmet meal while BUSD ProStart alumni worked the front of the house, providing an exquisite experience for the event’s VIP guests and donors. San Dimas and Bonita were the only schools chosen to participate in this year’s event.
