Crusader Times

Dear Parents and Students,

On behalf of the entire staff we want to thank you for a successful first quarter. I have had the chance to work with many parents and staff and I am very pleased with the collaboration that continues to take place at Bonita Vista Middle. As we get close to the end of the fall semester, I want to encourage our students to find a way to get connected to BVM by participating in many of our after school activities, sports, and clubs. Connected students do better in the classroom and they contribute to the awesome Crusader spirit.

As we get ready to go on Thanksgiving break, I want to wish you the best on your well-deserved break. This is a time of reflecting on all the great things we have and be thankful for our families, health, and friends. Have fun, enjoy yourselves, but most importantly, be safe. Go Crusaders!!

Eduardo Reyes, Ed.D.

BVM’s seventh grade science classes held a “Cool Cup Group Design Project” to engage students in the process of designing, building, testing, modifying, and retesting. Students working in small groups designed and built an insulated box containing a cup with 100 milliliters of ice water, with the goal of keeping it as cold as possible for ten minutes. After building their project, they did trial tests, modified, and retested. Students were allowed to cause an endothermic reaction to assist in lowering the ice water temperature by adding vinegar, baking soda, and/or lemon juice to their ice water. Applying their knowledge of chemical reactions, and learning the engineering skills of designing, testing, modifying, and retesting turned out to be quite fun! The project was enjoyed by all, and was very successful!

On Friday Nov. 13th the Dual Language Immersion Program hosted a Fall Festival in the BVM cafeteria. It was a great success! The cafeteria was filled with fun games, such as the pumpkin ring toss, the wheel of fortune and many more. Different clubs from Bonita Vista Middle School also participated, such as, the Glee Club, our BVM Band, and the PTSA. The Special Ed Department had their students create beautiful Fall wreaths and cute fall festival decor. And the food was amazing! There were delicious tacos for sale, pumpkin pie, nachos and Tostilocos. In addition to all of this, there were exciting performances by our BVM Band and our Dual Language Students. Overall, it was a fun filled night that brought our community together! Thank you so much for attending this event and we hope to see you at our 2nd Annual Fiesta in the Spring!

On Thursday, October 29th BVM’s Crusader Kids / Ms. Romo’s Class hosted a fun Halloween celebration along with Ms. Motz’s class, Ms. Thornton’s class, and Ms. Conlin’s class in the school cafeteria. They had a great time at their potluck, played games and enjoyed delicious food.

The Tri-M Music Honor Society is a group of dedicated music students with the mission of improving the school and community through various service projects.These past two weeks, they sponsored a toy drive to support the Energy 103.7 AJ's Kids Crane. All the toys will be donated to Rady Children's Hospital and distributed to patients throughout the year. The Tri-M students made posters and visited each advisory to advertise the toy drive. Their fellow Crusaders answered the call. We donated a car load full of toys on November 13th! Thank you to everyone who made this toy drive a success.

BVM art students create movement and rhythm in designs celebrating fall!

Our BVM Glee Club was created from the American musical comedy-drama television series that aired on Fox network from May 19, 2009, to March 20, 2015. Glee members sought out actors who could identify with the rush of starring in theatrical roles and that could also sing and dance. Auditions were held in room 703, our new advisor Mrs. Leonhardt’s classroom for two days. Glee members meet every Wednesday during lunch. Congratulations To Our New Glee Members!

In a student-parent-teacher effort, our Dual Language Immersion program celebrated the Day of the Dead creating an elaborate altar to welcome departed spirits home. The altar included a picture of the departed, skulls, skeleton figures, Day of the Dead bread, marigold flowers, candles, and food offerings.

Amy Cruz is not only a phenomenal band teacher but participates in a variety of school events all over campus. She leads our amazing school band in performances during school assemblies and events like Open House, BVH's Football Game, and the Annual Band Pageant just to name a few. She also participates and hosts booths in all of our community events like the DLI Fall Festival and Fiesta. She recently spearheaded The Tri-M Music Honor Society Toy Drive which was a huge success! She assisted the Tri-M students as they advertised the toy drive by visiting advisories and posting posters all over campus. All toys were donated to Rady Children's Hospital which will in turn be distributed to patients throughout the year.

A Few Guidelines on Keeping Ill Students at Home

Lately, I have been seeing quite a few students in the health office with cold/flu symptoms, upset stomachs, vomiting, and also diarrhea. I thought it would be helpful to review some of the Sweetwater Union High School District’s guidelines for keeping ill students at home. Sometimes it is difficult to decide when to have your child attend school or to remain at home. The following are some general guidelines based on public health science to assist parents in the process of determining whether or not to send a child to school.

Fever: Keep your child home if… temperature is 100.5 F or more. Students should be fever-free for at least 24 hours before returning to school.

Vomiting or diarrhea: Keep your child home if…the child has either one of these symptoms, because they are a sign that the child is contagious. If their stools are watery AND are increasing in frequency or if they are vomiting more than once a day or accompanied by a fever, rash or general weakness, your child may need to see a doctor. Your child may return to school when symptoms have passed.

Runny nose, coughing, congestion: Keep home if…your child has all of these symptoms, or just one, if it is severe (for example, frequent and severe cough, congestion that makes it difficult to breathe, or wheezing).

Sore throat: Keep home if…it is very painful for the student to swallow, even if there is no fever. See the doctor if symptoms persist, as it could be strep. If it is, the child can return to school 24 hours after starting antibiotics with a note from the doctor.

These are just general guidelines; the best thing to remember is that if your child is ill, keep him/her home! If your child becomes ill at school, the procedure is to get a hall pass and then come to the health office. Parents, please tell your child to come to the health office for evaluation by the nurse before using a cell phone to call home when feeling ill. I hope these guidelines help. It is truly a pleasure to work with the students of Bonita Vista Middle!

Stay healthy,

Christi Stoddard, RN, BSN

Reminder to have students check their email and add Counseling Canvas course so that they will be able to access information from the Counseling Office. Students can check with their teachers to see what missing assignments on Jupiter Grades can be completed and turned in. Thanksgiving Break can be a good week to get caught up with missing work. AEC, Voluntary Tutoring afterschool and Saturday Scholars are available to help students complete their assignments. Please monitor Jupiter Grades regularly and contact teachers with any questions. December 18 Semester 1 Report Card will be mailed home.

Need a way to save and share files? Need to send and receive emails from your teacher? Need to back up Notability? Then Google is your answer! Gmail and Google Drive can meet many of your technological needs. However, in order to use them you must log in. To log in, your username will be your district provided email (example: jsmith@sweetwaterschools.net) and your password will be your eight digit birthdate (MMDDYYYY). This will log you into the entire Google environment. Also, you will be able to back up all of your notes from Notability, so you won’t lose them if something happens to your iPad. If you have forgotten your username or password you can use the School Connect app or come visit the Genius Bar in room 606 during Advisory.

11/18 Coffee with the Principal

11/19 Turkey Trot and School Site Council Meeting

11/21 Disneyland Fieldtrip

11/23 - 11/27 Thanksgiving Break

12/01 Advanced Band at Studio Recording Workshop in Disneyland

12/04 Band Holiday Performance Assembly for 7th Graders

12/05 Saturday School and Saturday Scholars

12/07 Dual Language Field Trip to the San Diego Museum of Art

12/11 Band Holiday Performance Assembly for 8th Graders

12/12 Saturday School and Saturday Scholars

12/14 - 12/18 Finals

12/16 English Language Advisory Committee Meeting

12/17 School Site Council Meeting

Email: Eduardo.Reyes@sweetwaterschools.org
Website: http://bvm.sweetwaterschools.org/
Location: 650 Otay Lakes Road, Chula Vista, CA 91910, United States
Phone: (619) 397-2200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bonitavistamiddleschool