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.
Bonita High School senior Savannah Morua, Chaparral-Vista High School senior Rachelle Torres, and San Dimas High School senior Jacob Pardus stepped into new leadership roles during the Bonita Unified Board of Education meeting on Oct. 8, cheered on by their peers as they took the oath of office to serve as the Board’s student representatives for the 2025-26 school year. Morua, Torres, and Pardus – who are all part of their campus’ Associated Student Body (ASB) or Renaissance leadership classes – will serve as the voices of their peers on a District level, attending regular Board meetings to provide reports on campus news and share feedback or concerns.
Bonita Unified School District is bringing farm-fresh produce and nutrition education directly to students through new Mini Farmers Markets at various BUSD school sites, supported by a $3,000 California Farm to School Incubator grant. In partnership with Old Grove Orange – a local produce supplier that serves all BUSD campuses – Grace Miller Elementary hosted the first event on Sept. 26, where students were presented with locally grown fruits and vegetables, learned about their nutritional benefits, and gained a better understanding of where their food comes from. The next Mini Farmers Market will take place Nov. 12 at Allen Avenue Elementary.
California State Sen. Susan Rubio, a public school teacher, will return to the classroom to engage San Dimas High School students in a lesson about the legislature and civics process, inspiring student leaders to learn how their voices can have a larger impact on their community.
When San Dimas High School Class of 2005 graduate and visual designer Kat Bingley – known professionally as “Katbing” – was asked to collaborate with French street artist Kekli to create the towering nine-story “Games 4 All” mural, celebrating the Olympic spirit in the runup to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, it was a milestone in her career. With her to record the process for a documentary film was her twin sister Barbara Bingley-Verseman, also a 2005 San Dimas graduate. It was an experience that brought the pair even closer together, and a first-time collaboration from two former students of longtime San Dimas High art teacher Dominic Black. The alumnae got a hero’s welcome home when the film, “Le Mural,” received a special screening at the Bonita Center for the Arts on Sept. 26, with the pair sitting for a Q&A after the film, discussing their whirlwind two-week visit to France and reminiscing about their time at San Dimas High. The screening was hosted by Black, with the Q&A moderated by San Dimas High Class of 2020 graduate Eve McFarland.
In a festive atmosphere that embraced the coming of autumn, favoring tranquil shades of orange that reflected throughout the Bonita Center for the Arts, Bonita Unified celebrated its newest group of English learners (EL) eligible to be reclassified after passing their English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) exams during a Districtwide ceremony on Oct. 1. All BUSD schools with reclassified ELs were recognized at the same time, with 81 K-12 students eligible to participate in the ceremony, where they received a medal, certificate, and goody bag, while their families cheered them on.
