BVM Community,

Good evening/morning community! As we approach the end of the semester, I wanted to take a moment to connect with all parents, guardians, and students regarding the expectations for the remaining two weeks. It’s hard to believe, but we only have 10 school days left before we embark on a well-deserved Winter Break.

Our first semester will officially conclude on Friday, December 15, 2023, with a minimum day schedule. I have included our schedule for the last week of school at the end of this letter.

Following that, students will have a wonderful and safe Winter Break from Saturday, December 16 through Tuesday, January 9, 2024. I’m sure everyone will enjoy this time to relax and recharge.

We will resume classes on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, and we look forward to welcoming all students back to school with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

Academic Expectations:

Yesterday evening, our Sweetwater Union High School District’s Office of Curriculum and Instruction sent out the promotion ceremony/certificate requirements for our 7th and 8th graders. As we guide our students towards the challenges of high school and beyond, it is crucial that they grasp the significance of passing all their classes. A strong academic foundation built during middle school will put your student in a favorable position to thrive and succeed in high school. In short, middle school performance is a good indicator of high school performance.

With that in mind, I kindly request that you take some time this weekend to sit down with your student and go over the academic expectations for the remaining two weeks of school. This will ensure that they are fully aware of what is expected of them and so that they can make necessary preparations:

• Perform a thorough review of Jupiter Grades and/or Google Classroom for any missing assignments.
• With your student, identify any upcoming assessments including our End of Course exams and request study guide materials from teachers.
• Teachers will have different cut-off dates to turn in late work, so make sure that your student is communicating with their teachers so that they know their deadline to submit late or missing assignments or assessments.
• Make sure your student takes advantage of tutoring opportunities offered before or after school. Teachers may be offering additional tutoring opportunities after school this week.
• Parents, if you can, stay away from scheduling appointments during these last two weeks of school and avoid early pick-ups to ensure that your student is maximizing the instructional time at school.
• Monitor sleep times to ensure that our students are fully rested and fully prepared to come to school.
• Ensure 100% attendance over the next 10 days.

Behavior Expectations:

We want to take a moment to acknowledge the significant improvement in student behavior that we have witnessed during the second quarter of this semester. It is truly heartening to see our students strive to be kind, compassionate, and empathetic individuals. However, we must continue to encourage and guide them towards maintaining these positive behaviors.

While our data indicates that student behaviors have improved, we recognize that there is still progress to be made before we reach our ideal state. At BVM, we firmly believe that our parents and guardians are our partners in educating our students and instilling the shared values of our community. With that mind, I would like to address some concerning behaviors that we have recently addressed. I kindly request that you speak with your student and support our efforts in correcting any inappropriate behavior.

As we approach the end of the semester, it is crucial that our students remain on their best behavior. We want to avoid any unnecessary disruptions to their academic efforts, such as suspensions or being placed on short-term independent studies contracts. Therefore, I urge you to emphasize the importance of our behavior expectations for the remaining 10 days of school. We will not tolerate any inappropriate behaviors this late into the semester.

Inappropriate Use of Language

First, we have received reports of the use of inappropriate, and offensive language being directed at other students. One such term or word is the “N-word” among other racist and related slurs. A second term that students have used is “SPED” or “Autistic” when addressing other students. There is no place for hate, discrimination, or racism at Bonita Vista Middle School. We will not tolerate the use of any of these terms. The use of these words being directed at another student(s) is a suspendable offense. Although reports that we have received have been limited to a specific group of students, we know that students talk to one another. We want to make sure that we are clearly communicating the message that we will not condone or tolerate this type of offensive language. Furthermore, we ask that you stress the importance of not just using appropriate language but the importance of showing kindness, compassion, and empathy to one another. If you have further questions about this matter, please feel free to contact me.

Public Displays of Affection/Restricted Areas on Campus

Recently, we have seen an uptick in public displays of affection. Although we know and understand that some students are exploring middle school relationships, we do not allow students to hold hands, kiss, or show other types of inappropriate public displays of affection. Please remind your students to not engage in inappropriate displays of affection like holding hands or kissing. Students are allowed to hug if hugs are welcomed by the other student.

Lastly, please remind students at home that they are not to be behind the PE Girls’ Locker Room facing the Tennis Courts during nutrition break or lunchtime. This area is off limits to any student since we do not have consistent supervision in that area during nutrition break or lunchtime. Students are aware of this area, and we ask that you remind your student about not venturing into this area.

As we continue our efforts to reset and reestablish a culture worthy of our students and community, it is important that we continue our dialogue and that you are always made aware of the happenings at our school. On behalf of our staff, I want to thank all of you for how supportive you have been of our efforts this semester. It truly takes a community. Let’s have an excellent last two weeks of school and let’s ensure that our students finish their semester with an academic focus and on their best behavior.

Sincerely,

Dr. Salazar

Community, please make sure to read the very important attachments (below) that include our last week of school schedule, Winter Break schedule, our 8th grade Promotion Letter and our 7th Grade Promotion Letter.

Thank you,

Dr. Salazar

Check out our week at a glance by clicking on the link or the button below:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QYaxjsq_GOT7-Zza02DNavaS0VJLe38ZcFkQ6IAx7-I/edit#slide=id.p

The Acknowledgment Corner will be continued to be used to highlight and celebrate our students at any opportunity that we can! If you would like your student acknowledged for something we may not be aware of, please feel free to contact me (include a picture if possible).

Nominated by Coach Spencer, Lucky Davis is an outstanding student! He always does his best in class and is respectful to his peers and teachers. Lucky set a goal at the beginning of the school year to be able to dunk a basketball. This past week, Lucky was able to dunk a volleyball on hoop #20. He is only a few millimeters away from dunking a basketball. Because of all his effort and not giving up, I believe he will be able to dunk before the school year is over. In class, Lucky encourages his classmates and never puts them down. He is a happy young man with a bright future! Let's go BVM!

Nominated by Ms. Heredia, Khan Truong! Khan consistently excels in all aspects of the English 8 curriculum. He consistently produces high-quality work that showcases a deep understanding of the material. His essays and projects reflect a mastery of the course requirements, exhibiting a strong analytical and critical thinking skills. Thank you Khan for being a great example of a BVM Crusader!

Nominated by Ms. Timmons, Ariana Larena comes to dance class enthusiastic to learn. She is a great leader that always wants to help others, gives input respectfully, is constantly practicing and inspires her classmates with her positive attitude. She is a hard worker, collaborative, and always has a smile on her face. Thank you Ariana for being amazing! Let's go BVM!

Nominated by Ms. Caldwell, David Padilla! David works really hard in and out of class maintaining his grade. He's a great help to other students. I can always count on him to participate during lesson presentation. He's a great person!

Thank you to our amazing Cheer team who always welcomes back our students after each extended break. We want to acknowledge all of our cheer leaders and their amazing Cheer Advisor Ms. Timea Wegener. Thank you for always showing your support and always contributing to a positive school culture! Let's go BVM!

Thank you Ms. Ehrig and Mr. Schmidt, teachers out of our Special Education Department who helped organize the district's first ever Unified Kickball Tournament. Unified Sports strives to unify or bring students together enrolled in general education and special education programs. We had the opportunity to host our first ever Kickball Unified Tournament that included visiting schools from Castle Park Middle School, Granger Junior High School, and Mar Vista Academy. Thank you to all of our students who participated! If you are interested in supporting unified sports, please make sure to contact Summer.Ehrig@sweetwaterschools.org. Let's go BVM!

On Wednesday, November 29, 2023 were able to kick off our inaugural Lunch and Learn event with Mr. Thomas Luna who is a parent of two current students at Bonita Vista Middle School. He is a retired United States Naval Submarine Commander who worked in the Artic. During both lunches, he shared his knowledge with our students about submarines and his experiences as a USN Submarine Commander. Approximately 30 students attended this event. Mr. Luna also provided lunch and refreshments to our students. We couldn't be more grateful. We will work on having more Lunch and Learn events to begin to expose our students to different career paths and interests as we are here to prepare our students for high school and beyond. If you are interested in presenting to our students about your career, please make sure to contact Roberto.bonilla@sweetwaterschools.org. This is another example of how we live up to our mission statement at BVM.

Lastly, in addition to thanking Mr. Luna, I would also like to thank Mr. Bonilla, and one of our parents and community member, Ms. Perla Bonilla who played a significant role in not only making this event happen but in introducing this idea to our school community. This event could not be possible without them! We also want to thank our Science Department for promoting and supporting this event!

Last Thursday, November 30, 2023, we had the opportunity to recognize and celebrate our Fall Sports Athletes at their Fall Sports Banquet. Students were treated to catered Tacos and refreshments and were recognized by their coaches. We hold sports banquets for all three seasons and all of our athletes. Thank you BVM student athletes for a great Fall Season! You have represented us well! Let's go!

Our Associated Student Body held their "ASB Mixer" this past Friday at Rancho Del Rey Middle School where we had the opportunity to mix and mingle with all the other ASBs from other middle schools in our districts. Students shared best practices, held some spirit competitions and were treated to hot dogs, chips, and refreshments. It was a wonderful event where students had the opportunity to bond with not only their own ASB, but with other students in our district. Thank you to Ms. Schroeder who continues to do a wonderful job with our students, and thank you to our amazing student leaders in our ASB! Let's go BVM!

Our Robotics Team competed for the final time at San Ysidro this past weekend! Our teams bots did really well this past weekend. Overall, our teams have performed strong this season. Thank you to Mr. Dougherty and to our Robotics Team for an awesome season!

Below you will find valuable resources for our students and community, including our tutoring schedule!

Ms. Patricia Donahue will be joining the BVM Team on Monday, December 4, 2023. Ms. Donahue comes to us with years of experience primarily working for the Chula Vista Elementary School District. In fact, she knows some of our students! This week, she will be shadowing Mr. Edgar Kasem as she looks to take over Mr. Kasem's assignment fully by next week. Welcome Ms. Donahue we are super excited that you are joining our team!

This year, we were able to send three of our teachers to the National AVID Conference (here in Mission Valley). We currently have one section of AVID and 2 sections of AVID excel. AVID is designed to target students who are on the cusp of earning a 2.5 - 3.2 GPA and just need a little extra support to become college bound! Mr. Quijas is our AVID coordinator and is looking to grow the program for next year. Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Heredia also attended our conference and are now AVID trained!

Reach out and communicate with us!

Email: alexander.salazar-arbelaez@sweetwaterschools.org
Website: http://bvm.sweetwaterschools.org/
Location: 650 Otay Lakes Road, Chula Vista, CA, USA
Phone: 619-397-2200
Twitter: @BVM_Principal