When the Bonita High School boys swim team captured its first-ever CIF Southern Section (CIF-SS) Division 3 championship at Mt. San Antonio College on May 3, the triumphant Bearcat athletes gave coach Dillon Unsoeld the water polo version of the traditional Gatorade victory shower, celebrating the moment by playfully pushing their mentor into the swimming pool. The swim team’s CIF championship caps off the most successful year ever for Bonita swimmers, coming on the heels of the boys water polo team’s first-ever CIF-SS Division 3 title last November. For Unsoeld, a Bonita High Class of 2010 alumnus, the twin triumphs underscore the positive energy and stability he has brought to the program since he was hired in 2016.
Bonita Unified School District to Honor Accomplished Class of 2024
Bonita Unified School District will conclude a successful academic year by celebrating the achievements of the Class of 2024, which includes graduates headed to Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and Caltech, during commencement ceremonies for its two comprehensive high schools and continuation school. Chaparral High School will kick off the festivities with a 5 p.m. ceremony on Tuesday, June 4 at the Bonita Center for the Arts, 822 W. Covina Blvd., San Dimas; San Dimas High School will follow with a spirited ceremony at 7 p.m. at the school’s stadium, 800 W. Covina Blvd., San Dimas; and Bonita High School will close out the District’s commencement celebrations with a 7 p.m. ceremony on Thursday, June 6 at Glenn Davis Stadium, 3102 D St., La Verne.
Bonita Unified Appoints New Oak Mesa Elementary Principal
Bonita Unified School District announced during the May 1 Board of Education meeting that Dr. Christine Malally will serve as principal of Oak Mesa Elementary in the 2024-25 school year. Malally comes to Bonita Unified after 15 years of service in Claremont Unified, where she is currently an elementary school principal. Malally, a resident of La Verne and parent of two Bonita Unified alumni, holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Azusa Pacific University, a master’s degree from Cal State San Bernardino, and a bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly Pomona. She will take the helm at Oak Mesa, a California Distinguished School, following current principal Steven Patterson’s promotion to BUSD’s Senior Director of Student Services, effective July 1.
Bonita Unified Students, Teachers to Perform ’80s Hits at SD ROCKS
San Dimas High School will hold its annual SD ROCKS music festival on Saturday, June 1 at the Bonita Center for the Arts (BCA), delighting the community with a lively celebration of the music and fashion of the 1980s. First launched in 2009 as a faculty rock concert, SD ROCKS has since expanded into an all-day music festival, with two separate shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., featuring performances by the San Dimas band and choir, San Dimas jazz band, student bands, and teachers. Tickets can be purchased on the BCA website. The BCA is located at 822 W. Covina Blvd., San Dimas.
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.
