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Bonita Unified School District

  • Bonita Unified Students Sound out Success at 19th Annual District Spelling Bee

    As curtains rose on the 19th annual Bonita Unified Spelling Bee, 53 elementary and middle school students stepped into the Bonita Center for the Arts, ready to battle it out in a war of words on Feb. 3. With vowels and consonants at the ready, students went up one by one, with a cash prize and yearlong bragging rights on the line. The competition unfolded over several rounds and students showcased their skills under pressure as the field narrowed with each passing word. In the end, Gladstone Elementary fifth-grader Iresh Oswal claimed first place, securing a $250 cash prize for himself and an additional $250 for his school’s library. Alex Yang of Shull Elementary finished in second place, followed by Kamsiyochukwu Aniwigbo of Grace Miller Elementary in third.

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  • Bonita Unified Student, Children’s Rights Advocate Accepted to NYC’s Barnard College

    San Dimas High School senior Jazmine Cardenas is no stranger to advocacy. Through her involvement as a member of the UNICEF National Youth Council, the YWCA San Gabriel Valley and the Harvard Youth Corps, Cardenas has fought for children’s rights and victims of domestic violence, and helped to unite students from different cultural backgrounds. Cardenas, who has a 4.17 GPA and has taken six Advanced Placement courses and nine dual enrollment college courses, will take her love for policy-making to New York City after being accepted into Columbia University’s exclusive Barnard College, which has an acceptance rate of less than 9%. Cardenas plans to major in political science with a concentration on international relations and a minor in public policy.

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  • Bonita Unified Accounting Students Prepare for Tax Day, Assist Community through VITA Program

    With tax season in full swing, Bonita High School’s IRS-certified accountants-in-training once again are poised and ready to provide tax return filing assistance to local residents free of cost, as part of the IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which has been a fixture at Bonita for more than 20 years. The VITA program will kick off with Tax Day on Thursday, Jan. 30, with a class session dedicated to tax preparation appointments for residents and students. Guided by accounting teacher Madhu Sekhri, who is a Certified Public Accountant, Bonita’s VITA program is available for all students and tax payers who earned $67,000 or less in 2024. Tax preparation services are available through April 11 during the hours of 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

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Bonita Unified Students Prepare for Annual Smudge Pot Football Game

Associated Student Body leaders at Bonita and San Dimas high schools are busy gathering supplies for brightly colored spirit signs and planning events for spirit week, while their bands are practicing pep tunes and half-time shows and cheerleaders are rehearsing routines and chants to keep the crowds pumped during the annual Smudge Pot football game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14. The San Dimas Saints will vie to recapture the trophy from the Bonita Bearcats, who claimed it last year in a 28-14 victory. The game will be held at Citrus College Stadium, 1000 W. Foothill Blvd., Glendora.

Bonita Unified Welcomes Students Back to School

About 10,000 Bonita Unified students at 13 schools across La Verne and San Dimas greeted one another with warm hugs, fist-bumped teachers and high-fived principals as they arrived Aug. 19 for the first day of the 2019-20 school year. San Dimas High School students started the day with Senior Sunrise, and staff joined the ASB to welcome new and returning students with fresh donuts. PTAs across the district set up breakfast and snack bars for staff members and hosted welcome events for parents, such as the Yahoo/Boo Hoo Parent Breakfast at La Verne Heights Elementary. Middle school students in matching shirts clustered around the campus entrance at Ramona Middle School with signs reading “Ramona: Where Everyone Belongs,” “We love 6th graders!” and “Welcome Back.”

Bonita Unified Prepares for Purposeful Start to School Year

Bonita Unified will start the 2019-20 school year on Monday, Aug. 19 with a renewed focus on achieving academic goals through the core values of equity, mastery and a focus on results. A staff orientation day and an all-staff Welcome Back assembly helped energize educators and staff throughout Bonita Unified for their work in guiding about 10,000 students to live their purpose.

Bonita Unified Time Capsule Unearthing Reunites 1994 Students, Teachers

As part of a living history lesson demonstrating how periods in time are both similar and different, past and present teachers and students of La Verne Heights Elementary gathered on May 30 to unearth a time capsule buried at the school in 1994. Lauren Barnes, a teacher and student council adviser at La Verne Heights, was a fifth-grader and student council president at the school in 1994 when the time capsule was filled with items from students and buried. Barnes, several of her fellow La Verne Heights alumni, former teachers and Marcia Pateau, who served as principal at the time, helped retrieved the quarter-century old items, which included student essays predicting hoverboards and flying cars, an old diet Pepsi can, a floppy disk and some Pogs. A new time capsule- set for retrieval in 2044- will be buried later this summer when Spencer Gardner, a La Verne Heights alum and Bonita High School student renovates an oak tree monument on the campus as part of his Eagle Scout project.

Bonita Unified Culinary Arts Students Take Top Honors at California ProStart Cup

Bonita Unified culinary arts students cooked up a recipe for success during the 2019 California ProStart Cup, with four student teams earning accolades and scholarships ranging from $3,000 to $6,000 for their kitchen, management and innovation skills. The ProStart Cup, held March 15-16 at the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel & Conference Center, brought more than 200 students from across California to compete in three contests: the Wurstkuche Innovation Cup, the BJ’s Restaurant Culinary Cup and the BJ’s Restaurant Management Cup.

Bonita Unified Celebrates Accomplishments, Goals at State of the District

Bonita Unified Superintendent Carl J. Coles discussed the District’s accomplishments thus far and the goals for the future, during the State of the District on Feb. 26. The event featured a luncheon with families, community leaders and members, local business partners and educators, and student performances by the District’s high school band and middle school choir group. Photos and video available.

Bonita Unified School District to Recap Goals, Successes at State of the District

Bonita Unified Superintendent Carl J. Coles will share the District’s successes, highlight academic, activity, arts and athletic programs and discuss BUSD’s vision and mission during the State of the District at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26. The event will be held at Hillcrest, 2705 Mountain View Drive, La Verne. A luncheon will begin at 11 a.m. Tickets can be purchased for $25 at Hillcrest. Call 909-392-4362 for more information.