Students at Gladstone Elementary School’s annual “Be You” Family Night in April could not get enough of the therapy dogs, with children and parents feeling the love from their furry friends, while others sparked new connections at the petting zoo. Now in its second year, “Be You” is a night where the entire school comes together to celebrate individuality. Gladstone Elementary has long served students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families, offering a full range of support services that promote inclusion and communication, and provide a nurturing education environment. Gladstone Elementary not only enrolls students from within Bonita Unified, but also hosts students throughout the East San Gabriel Valley Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). For its efforts in providing these services to the community, Gladstone was recently designated as a California Autism Professional Training and Information Network (CAPTAIN) demonstration school.
The San Dimas High School sports medicine program wrapped up its season in top form, finishing in sixth place in the American Academic Competition Institute (AACI) 2024 California High School Sports Medicine Competition, Small Schools Division, held in March at Cal State Northridge. The outstanding effort paves the way for the team to advance to the AACI National competition, held throughout May, for the fourth consecutive year. San Dimas senior Andrew Reyes also earned an individual fifth-place finish out of nearly 340 AACI competitors in the Novice Division. The AACI competition consists of 150 general knowledge questions, followed by a series of sports medicine procedures, including tape jobs, anatomical palpations, first-aid skills, and orthopedic examinations.
Bonita Unified School District is offering 18 graduating students or recent graduates the opportunity to jumpstart their careers and become certified welders with an 11-week course through the Welding Certification Center in Pomona, offered in partnership with Pomona Valley America’s Job Center. The County of Los Angeles Department of Economic Opportunity will cover the cost of tuition for the 18 students, to be selected following an application and interview process, to attend the accelerated course that begins July 8. At the Welding Certification Center, the only state-licensed private welding school in Los Angeles County, students will be trained in shielded metal arc welding, also known as stick welding, and become certified welders licensed by both the American Welding Society (AWS) and the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS).
Bonita Unified Students Honored for Perseverance, Acts of Kindness
Nearly 150 Bonita Unified students received a moment in the spotlight to honor actions that often go unseen – including perseverance in the face of adversity and acts of kindness toward others – during the 2023-24 La Verne/San Dimas Educational Foundation Awards on April 29. The ceremony is one of the foundation’s signature events and provides awards and scholarships to students who overcome physical, emotional, or academic challenges and complete charitable acts in their community. Students from Bonita, Chaparral-Vista, and San Dimas high schools also received scholarships for demonstrating excellence in career technical education courses.
Gladstone Elementary School held its annual “Be You” Night on April 17, an all-inclusive family celebration focused on embracing neurodiversity and encouraging Gladstone students to be accepting of classmates who think and act differently than they do, including students with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions. The Gladstone campus was a buzz of activity, with students playing hopscotch with hula hoops, navigating an obstacle course, shooting hoops, making multi-colored rainsticks and sensory bottles, completing a scavenger hunt using communication boards, relaxing with a therapy dog and playing with animals in the petting zoo.
Bonita Unified Musicians Win Awards at Route 66 Jazz Festival
Bonita Unified’s domination of music competitions continued at the Route 66 Jazz Festival on April 20, where San Dimas High School’s jazz band took home three individual awards. Hunter Peterson’s compositional/arrangement talents, evident in his jazz arrangement of “Cantina Band,” inspired judges to create a new award category and name Peterson as the inaugural Outstanding Young Composer Award recipient. John Lopez and Anthony Bailey were also honored with Outstanding Soloist Awards.
Bonita Unified’s commitment to fostering student excellence, bolstered by robust academic support and college and career readiness efforts, has once again earned Bonita and San Dimas high schools recognition as top-performing public high schools, according to the 2024 Best High Schools rankings released by U.S. News & World Report. Bonita and San Dimas high schools maintained their strong rankings from the previous year; in 2024, the schools rank in the top nine percent and 15 percent, respectively, of public high schools nationwide. Both schools achieved graduation rates of 97% or higher.
Bonita Unified Students to Be Honored for Perseverance, Service
Bonita Unified students will be given a moment in the spotlight to honor their perseverance in the face of adversity – as well as acts of kindness toward others – during the 2023-24 La Verne/San Dimas Educational Foundation Awards at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 29. The ceremony is one of the foundation’s signature events, and provides awards and scholarships to students who overcome physical, emotional, or academic challenges, complete charitable acts in their community, or demonstrate excellence in CTE courses. The awards ceremony will be held at the Bonita Center for the Arts, 822 W. Covina Blvd., San Dimas.
Bonita Unified Culinary Students to Represent State at Nationals
Bonita High School’s culinary team “Chicks” will represent California at the National ProStart Invitational from Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April 28 at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront, facing off against the top culinary students from high schools across the country in the quest to prepare the best three-course meal. Led by Bonita High junior Charli Padilla, “Chicks” advanced to nationals following their win at the California ProStart Cup in February, becoming the second Bonita Unified team to advance to the national competition.
Bonita Unified School District celebrated its 2024 Certificated, Classified, and Management Employees of the Year during the April 10 Board of Education meeting, recognizing their dedication to supporting student success. The recognition by the Board was the second in a three-part celebration for the Employees of the Year, who were first surprised with the announcement – complete with flowers and banners – at their respective sites in mid-March. During the meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Dr. Kevin Lee introduced each employee with a heartfelt speech that featured insights from the nominations submitted by their peers and superiors.
