More than 350 Covina-Valley Unified students with exceptional needs, from transitional kindergarten through the Adult Transition Program, gathered at the District Field on Feb. 5 for the second annual Sports Festival, a high-energy event centered on inclusion, accessibility, and community. Students sported their schools’ shirts as they rotated through a variety of activity stations, including frisbee golf, javelin throw, basketball, soccer courses, bean bag toss, long jump, ribbon dance, and races, along with sensory areas, face painting, and cool-down spaces. Students earned bracelets and medals, heading home with flair and smiles.
Sierra Vista Middle School students represented Covina-Valley Unified at the Lone Hill Math Competition on Jan. 24, demonstrating resilience, teamwork, and strong mathematical skills. Competing against five other local schools, the Sierra Vista sixth-grade team earned first place overall, while the seventh-grade team secured third. Each team consisted of four students who volunteered through the Sierra Vista Math Club. Students competed in both individual and team-based rounds, tackling advanced math problems that tested critical thinking, collaboration, and speed.
Northview High School junior Julianne Fernandez and senior Genesis Sanchez are gaining firsthand insight into government and building real-world leadership skills through the Young Legislators Program hosted by Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio’s office. The program selects just over 20 students from a pool of more than 100 applicants and consists of monthly, in-person meetings focused on civic engagement, public policy, and essential life skills. Through workshops, simulations, and direct interaction with policymakers, students gain an inside look at how state government operates and how decisions impact local communities.
Traweek Middle School is empowering students to build strong science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills through innovative, hands-on programs such as Project Lead the Way (PLTW) and Femineers, preparing students for success in high school pathways, college, and careers. PLTW is a project-based curriculum that blends creativity with real-world engineering and problem-solving skills. At Traweek, students are introduced to PLTW as early as sixth grade through the rotating elective wheel, allowing them to explore the program before committing to the class in later years. In seventh and eighth grade, students can enroll in introductory and advanced PLTW courses.
All three Covina-Valley Unified comprehensive high schools have been named to the 2025 Advanced Placement (AP) School Honor Roll, a distinction that underscores the District’s commitment to providing rigorous academic opportunities that prepare students for success in higher education. Northview High School earned silver-level recognition, while Covina and South Hills high schools were each named bronze schools based on performance data from the Class of 2025.
South Hills High School senior Julian Libuit is part of a prestigious group of students nationwide to match with one of QuestBridge’s 55 college partners, earning a full four-year scholarship to Colgate University through the National College Match program. QuestBridge connects high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds with top colleges and universities, offering the means to continue their educational journeys.
Rene Romero, an International Baccalaureate (IB) Language and Literature teacher at South Hills High School, has been named one of only five 2026 California Teachers of the Year, earning the honor for more than two decades of work empowering students to feel confident, capable, and prepared to pursue their goals. As a California Teacher of the Year, Romero now serves as an ambassador for education, demonstrating exemplary teaching, engaging with leaders in Sacramento, and promoting innovative practices that motivate and inspire both current and future educators.
South Hills High School junior Angel Duarte is taking a leading role in developing student-led solutions to challenges affecting schools after being selected for the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council, representing Covina-Valley Unified School District. A key project of the 2025-26 LACOE Student Advisory Council is the year-long L.A. County Student Civic Changemakers Challenge, which carries the tagline “Real Issues. Bold Solutions. Youth-Led.” Students from across the county were divided into teams and assigned one of four pressing societal issues to research. Teams will present their findings and proposed solutions at a culminating showcase in June 2026.
Ben Lomond Elementary School students are strengthening their understanding of character traits and learning to put them into action through the Character Strong program, ensuring students treat one another with respect, care, and integrity every day. The Character Strong program focuses on three key outcomes: “Be Strong, Be Kind, and Be Well.” Each month, students explore a new character trait through grade-level specific lessons and songs that reinforce positive behavior, helping them develop respect, responsibility, empathy, gratitude, honesty, and more.
Covina-Valley Unified School District has earned multiple recognitions from U.S. News & World Report, Innovate Public Schools, and the Educational Results Partnership (ERP) Honor Roll for its innovative programs that empower students to excel inside and outside the classroom. All three Covina-Valley Unified middle schools ranked in the top 13% of public middle schools in California, while all nine elementary schools were ranked in the top 29% statewide, according to the 2026 U.S. News & World Report rankings. Additionally, Manzanita, Rowland Avenue, Grovecenter, and Merwin elementary schools, Las Palmas Middle School, and South Hills High School earned a place on Innovate Public Schools’ 2025 Top Public Schools list for closing opportunity gaps for Latino students.
