El Monte Union School Library Awarded $5K Barona Mission Indians Grant
Mountain View High School's library on Aug. 23 was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Barona Band of Mission Indians, which will go to buy reading materials for the school's beginning English students. Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio was on hand to support Mountain View's efforts to provide beginning English students – many of whom are new young immigrants – with books, ebooks, audiobooks and magazines. The Barona grant would also support additional students whose home language is not English, students who are studying to obtain bi-literacy certificates and students in AP Spanish.
El Monte Union to Host 2019-20 Back to School Nights
El Monte Union’s high schools will host back-to-school nights for students and their families from 6 to 8 p.m. as follows: Tuesday, Sept. 10 at Rosemead High School, 9063 Mission Drive, Rosemead; and Wednesday, Sept. 11 at Arroyo High School, 4921 Cedar Ave., El Monte. Fernando R. Ledesma High School will hold its event from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12. South El Monte, El Monte and Mountain View high schools have held their events.
El Monte Union High School District welcomed over 8,000 new and returning students to its campuses on Aug. 20 for the 2019-20 school year, with nearly 2,000 freshmen among the first to experience the District’s rollout of a new 1:1 device initiative, increased dual enrollment and innovative career pathway programs and new facility upgrades. Rosemead High School kicked off the year on Aug. 13 with its fourth annual LINK Crew Orientation Program, which provided over 400 members of the Class of 2023 the opportunity to acclimate to the Panther culture, learn campus rules and expectations, meet classmates and “link” up with upperclassmen who will serve as their mentors for the entire school year.
El Monte Union Engineering Program to Welcome Gray Fox for First Day
Mountain View High School is launching year two of its Zoo Crew: Engineers Gone Wild! career technical education pathway on the first day of the 2019-20 school year with a visit from a gray fox, courtesy of the Nature of Wildworks. The program will take place from 10:35 to 11:25 a.m. and 12:10 to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20 in the school’s media center, 2900 Parkway Drive, El Monte. The Zoo Crew engineering pathway provides students the opportunity to study the health and well-being of animals in the wild and encourage their interest in careers architectural design and engineering fields.
El Monte Union students can look forward to a host of new dual-enrollment programs and career technical education pathway offerings – from computer coding and stage production to public safety and education – when the 2019-20 school year begins Tuesday, Aug. 20.
The El Monte Union Board of Trustees at its Aug. 7 meeting unanimously voted to reduce the use of polystyrene, a synthetic resin known by the brand name Styrofoam, from its campuses and administrative offices effective Jan. 1, 2020. The product, which has been identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the fifth largest source of hazardous waste, comes in various forms, including coffee cups, coolers, cushioning material in packaging and lunch trays. Polystyrene is not recyclable, takes at least 500 years to decompose, and is a main pollutant of urban areas, oceans, bays and other U.S. water sources.
El Monte Union Board Votes to Reduce Use of Styrofoam Products
The El Monte Union Board of Trustees at its Aug. 7 meeting unanimously voted to reduce the use of polystyrene, a synthetic resin known by the brand name Styrofoam, from its campuses and administrative offices effective Jan. 1, 2020. Under the resolution, the District, excluding the Nutrition Services Department, is prohibited from purchasing, using and distributing polystyrene products in business or school activities; the District will seek more environmentally friendly alternatives to school polystyrene lunch trays. Faculty, staff and students will also be urged to reduce use of the foam product.
El Monte High Alumna Recognized as 2019-20 District Teacher of the Year
When Sonia Lamas was a junior at El Monte High School in the early 1990s, she made a bold prediction to her math teacher that she would one day return and take his place in the classroom. She came close to fulfilling her promise when she was hired as a math teacher at the Lion campus just a few short years later. While she didn’t displace her former mentor, Lamas, a precalculus and AVID teacher, she has made a considerable impact at her alma mater and its students over the course of 20 years. Her enthusiastic presence in the classroom and willingness to make time for every student has culminated in Lamas being recognized as El Monte Union’s 2019-20 Teacher of the Year.
The El Monte Union Board of Trustees adopted a 2019-20 budget that supports its Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), which calls for developing wellness centers, additional after-school enrichment programs and implementing a new data analysis platform that will allow teachers to collaborate and modify instruction to ensure student success.
El Monte Union Summer Bridge Program Eases High School Transition
More than 270 freshmen who are set to launch their high school careers in El Monte Union this fall recently completed the District’s Summer Bridge program, during which they took field trips to local colleges, universities and museums, met high school faculty and staff, and learned about the requirements for high school graduation and how to prepare for college. The Summer Bridge program provides incoming freshmen with instructional support and guidance to ensure a successful transition from middle to high school, focusing on time management, organization and study skills.
