Fontana Unified School District welcomed students back to campuses filled with upbeat music, cheerful decorations and smiling faces on Aug. 3, ushering in a new school year focused on empowering students to achieve their full potential. A.B. Miller High School celebrated the first day of school bright and early with a Senior Sunrise event for the Class of 2023. ASB leaders, many wearing cowboy hats, handed out donuts and juice to seniors while a DJ played music. A.B. Miller senior Luis Sainz was one of the first to arrive on campus. Sainz, an ASB and Link Crew leader and a member of the A.B. Miller track and cross country teams, is eager to get the school year off to a good start.
When Summit High School Advanced Placement (AP) teacher Megan Perez graduated from Kaiser High School in 2008, she was certain that she had left Fontana Unified forever. While attending UCLA, Perez was determined to embark on a career as a lawyer, but the former valedictorian soon realized that her destiny was in the classroom and returned to teach history at Kaiser High in 2013. In the years since, Perez has inspired hundreds of Kaiser High students to achieve at the highest levels, with pass rates for the AP classes she teaches – AP Capstone, AP Human Geography, AP Government and AP Psychology – well above the average in California and globally. Kaiser graduates taught by Perez have gone on to attend a number of elite universities, including MIT, Stanford, Johns Hopkins and Yale.
Seventeen high school students put their business skills and passion into action at Río Hondo College’s annual Entrepreneur Camp Río, a two-week camp that teaches students how to achieve success as young entrepreneurs. The camp was led by Río Hondo College faculty members certified by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). Students learned how to identify business opportunities, construct a financial model and create a marketing and sales strategy. The camp welcomed students from seven schools in the area including Arroyo, El Monte, El Rancho, Gabrielino, Glen A. Wilson, La Serena and Mark Keppel high schools.
Seven of Fontana Unified’s top administrators have been promoted into new leadership positions for the 2022-23 school year, with four FUSD campuses welcoming new principals and three former principals moving to the District office.
Covina-Valley Unified School District (C-VUSD) will participate in the Federal Provision 2 Meal Program for the 2022-23 school year, which allows the District to continue serving school meals to all students at no charge. Nutrition Services will serve one free breakfast and one free lunch to C-VUSD students at all District sites Monday through Friday. Students participating in after-school care will also be offered one free supper meal. All other students may receive one free supper meal at Covina High School from 2:50 p.m. to 4 p.m. Students may purchase a second meal in their school’s cafeteria by providing exact change or by having a positive balance in their meal account.
Hacienda La Puente Unified middle school students sharpened their communication skills and gained confidence as public speakers during a two-week Speech and Debate Summer Camp, held July 11 to 22 at Newton Middle School. The speech and debate summer camp is designed to develop future community leaders, encourage creativity and prepare the students for the rigors of speech competitions. The camp was attended by more than 100 Hacienda La Puente Unified sixth- to eighth-grade students and led by District partner Advantage Communications, which provided the coaches and staff under the leadership of Advantage HLPUSD District Director Joel Anguiano. Hacienda La Puente Unified has offered the speech and debate program since 2020.
Río Hondo College’s Theater Department is brimming with excitement as cast and crew members prepare for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a musical about the hijinks surrounding a spelling bee competition.
The musical, which premiers on Thursday, Aug. 4 in the College’s Wray Theater, marks the return of in-person musicals for Río Hondo College since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous theater performances were held via Zoom. Professor of Theater Arts William Korf, who is also directing the play, said he and his team of actors and crew members are glad to be back on stage but are keeping high safety standards. Korf said selecting “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” was purposefully done to allow actors to spread out on stage while still showcasing their talents.
Fontana Unified School District Superintendent Randal S. Bassett will retire effective Aug. 1, 2022, bringing to a close an illustrious career in which he dedicated more than 25 years to fostering innovation and high levels of achievement in the District. Bassett, who has nearly 30 years of management experience in education, was appointed to the District’s top position in December 2016. During his time in Fontana Unified, Bassett also served as interim superintendent, associate superintendent of business services and chief technology officer.
Río Hondo College will host the “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a musical about six quirky adolescents navigating their way through the rigors of an off-the-wall spelling bee run by a set of equally zany grown-ups.
Generations of Braves descended on the Baldwin Park High School campus for a groundbreaking ceremony on July 13, marking the start of construction of the new school gymnasium. The Braves’ new gym is one of the first projects funded by Measure AE, a bond approved by Baldwin Park voters in 2018 for the expansion of school safety, security, and enhanced learning facilities. BPHS students, staff and alumni were joined by District and city leaders, as well as representatives from the offices of U.S. Representative Grace Napolitano, State Sen. Susan Rubio, State Assemblymember Blanca E. Rubio, and members of the Baldwin Park Business Association.
