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.
At San Dimas High School, there will always be a place on the Wall of Fame for Class of 2021 alumna and professional soccer player Ally Lemos, who brought the Lady Saints soccer team its only state championship in 2021, before continuing on to UCLA and getting drafted to the Orlando Pride of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), winning championships for each team. Lemos becomes the latest former Saint to have their jersey retired and placed on the school’s Wall of Fame in the lobby of the San Dimas High gymnasium. Principal Omar Mayen and assistant principal Jack Nance made the presentation during halftime of the San Dimas varsity basketball game on Jan. 10. Lemos, who has now won championship titles at the state, college and pro levels, turns 21 in March.
Two Bonita Unified elementary school teachers received mini-grants from the Rotary Club of La Verne to support innovative classroom projects that inspire students to develop a love of learning and provide additional resources so that the students can thrive academically. Rotary Club of La Verne president James R. Ranells presented mini-grants totaling $900 to Roynon Elementary kindergarten teacher Monica Serna Johnson and Oak Mesa Elementary transitional kindergarten (TK) teacher Heather Hoynes during the Dec. 18 Board of Education meeting.
The first full year of CIF-sanctioned high school flag football was a resounding success for Bonita Unified schools, with both Bonita and San Dimas high schools making great strides in their inaugural seasons, led by top players establishing themselves as fierce competitors and passionate coaches eager to develop their athletes as winners on and off the field. Four of the District’s standout seniors will get an opportunity to play one final high school game after being selected for the Los Angeles Rams/National Football Foundation Senior All-Star Flag Football Game, to be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21 at Simi Valley High School. Ashley Sandmark and Anelly Alba from San Dimas High will join Bonita High seniors Breanna Sandmark and Kayla Heinlein on the San Gabriel Valley/Pasadena roster. They will play against a team of San Fernando Valley/Ventura area all-stars. Bonita High head flag football coach Mike Mann will coach the SGV/Pasadena squad.
Bonita Unified School District’s choir program has found the secret ingredient to success: cultivating a community of singers from elementary to high school, supported by passionate educators who nurture talent, and preparing students for professional opportunities on elite stages. This year, a record-breaking 24 choir students from Bonita Unified’s two comprehensive high schools were chosen for the Southern California Vocal Association’s (SCVA) Honor Choirs. Bonita High School choir students made history with 21 individuals named to the prestigious group – the most students selected from a single campus across eight counties.
Amid a festive backdrop of Hawaiian shirts and colorful leis, the Bonita Unified School District community said a final aloha and farewell to longtime Board of Education member Glenn Creiman during a retirement ceremony on Dec. 11 at Lone Hill Middle School. Creiman’s 21-year tenure on the Board was defined by his unwavering desire to do what was right for Bonita Unified students. Creiman made a lasting impression on the District, which saw the four-time Board President as honest, kind, humble, and devoted, with a homespun civility that put people at ease. During Creiman’s years on the Board, he oversaw two bond measures that helped finance three new gymnasiums, the Bonita Center for the Arts, a new District office, and many other modernization projects. In his tenure, the District also improved its relationships with the cities of San Dimas and La Verne; achieved its highest-ever scores on state assessments and mitigated learning loss from the pandemic; expanded its career technical education offerings; and more.
San Dimas High School senior Alyssa Suarez has a dream of going to college and studying to be a civil engineer. Now in her fourth year of the college-prep elective Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), Suarez and her AVID cohort are in the final stages of college and career planning, brimming with confidence and ready to take on the challenges of post-secondary education. San Dimas’ AVID program is changing the academic trajectory for dozens of students who have embraced the elective, which provides fundamental skills to bolster their college readiness, emphasizes the importance of completing A-G admissions requirements for UC and Cal State schools, assists in researching potential colleges and filling out applications, and promotes college culture.
Bonita Unified will continue its tradition of sending its best musicians to represent the District in the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, after two students were selected to perform with the Tournament of Roses 2025 Honor Band on Jan. 1, 2025. Bonita High sophomore Logan Martinez (flute) and San Dimas High senior Andrew Ward (snare drum) were both selected for the first time. Bonita High has sent a band member to the Rose Parade for seven consecutive years, excluding the 2021 parade, which was canceled, while San Dimas High musicians are being represented at the Rose Parade for the third consecutive year.
Bonita High School Class of 2023 graduate Micah Tofilau discovered he had a knack for working with his hands when he took a jewelry-making class as a junior. Realizing that Tofilau had a great aptitude for soldering and fabricating, his instructor Brian Harrison recommended that he look into pursuing a career as a welder. Tofilau was one of nine recent Bonita Unified graduates who received welding certifications from the Welding Certification Center (WCC) in Pomona during a special graduation ceremony on Nov. 21, after taking advantage of a 16-week career technical education (CTE) pilot program that provided low- to no-cost certification training to high school students, through a partnership with Pomona Valley America’s Job Center of California (AJCC) and the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity (LACDEO).
Twenty-eight Bonita Unified educators were awarded nearly $10,000 in mini-grants by the La Verne/San Dimas Educational Foundation (LVSDEF), which will help enhance hands-on learning opportunities for students across the District in the 2024-25 school year. Members of the LVSDEF presented the mini-grants, which ranged from $100 to $500, to educators from 13 BUSD schools during the Nov. 6 Board of Education meeting.
