Dear Bonita Vista Middle School Community,

We had a fantastic opening week of school! Our students, staff, and families were all excited and ready to get back to school. Our school year is off to a great start! During lunchtime this past week, we gathered all our students to remind them of our areas of accessibility (Main Quad, Main Corridor, ASB Area, Basketball Courts). We also introduced our students to our counselors and restorative practice teacher, Ms. Karla.leonhardt@sweetwaterschools.org. We wanted to make sure, especially for our 7th grade students, that they were not overwhelmed during their first three days of school and so we layered in more structure.

We are also super excited to announce that we are now officially an International Baccalaureate Candidate School! A major component of an IB school, is our IB Learner Profiles. For the month of July and August we will be emphasizing the IB Learner Profile: Caring! Scroll down toward the bottom of this newsletter to see my request to our families around this learner profile!

To learn more about our International Baccalaureate journey, please click on this link to learn more: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iLZOQr5xVerFvNE5h7Z_DR4yQe8mNIem81iuurj16Pc/edit?usp=sharing

Teacher Vacancies:

Moreover, we've hired almost all of our staff for the 24-25 academic year, and we're actively looking to fill the remaining vacancy in our Special Education Department. If there's a "place holder" in your student's schedule, it's because that teacher hasn't been cleared through our Human Resources Department yet, but they will be soon. Our goal is to make sure all vacancies have been cleared or filled by Open House (Thursday, August 15th) or sooner.

Student Schedule Changes:

As our enrollment settles for the 24-25 school year, and our counselors begin to balance classes, some students will have their schedules changed this week. Please know that many factors contribute to us having to make schedule changes during the 2nd and 3rd week of school and these changes will be final. We'll do our best to minimize any disruptions to student schedules. All student schedule changes will be finalized by Tuesday, August 6th. Thank you for your understanding and support!

Coffee with the Principal Meeting Change:

Please note that, although listed in our Week-At-A-Glance, our 1st Coffee with the Principal will be on Wednesday, August 7th from 5:15 pm - 6:15 pm (Virtual) and not this Thursday, August 1st. To best accommodate our parents for Coffee with the Principal Meetings this year we will have both virtual and in-person Coffee with the Principal meetings.

Back to School Night: Thursday, August 15th:

Families, please note that this year we have pushed back our Back to School Night (Open House) to Thursday, August 15th so that we don't conflict with Bonita Vista High School's Open House on Thursday, August 8th.

*Please note this week we will have picture days on Wednesday (7th Grade) and Thursday (8th Grade) --get those haircuts and let's achieve 100% attendance!

Thank you and let's have an awesome week!

Sincerely,

Dr. Salazar

Parents and guardians, to report a student absence, please make sure to fill out the following form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScLJrFXTi9s9G9nIzEOJSMEn2NeMLbDqMYUseHAKr5YRwJmYQ/viewform.

For any absences extending to 5 or more school days, please contact Ana.Monge@sweetwaterschools.org, our Attendance Coordinator, to complete an short-term independence study contract.

Please contact Ms. Rubi.deleon@sweetwaterschools.org, our attendance technician, to report any attendance errors.

Students (incoming and returning) wishing to participate in our Middle School Athletics League, are required to have an online consent completed as part of the athletic clearance process. Please click on this link to start the process: https://www.registermyathlete.com/login/. Soon we will be switching over our clearing process to HOME CAMPUS (by next week). For now, use Registermyathlete to register for Fall Sports and all registrations there will be saved before we transition over to HOME CAMPUS by next week. More information will follow regarding our Fall Sports Offering and HOME CAMPUS.

For any other questions, please make sure to contact our athletic director, Ivan.quijas@sweetwaterschools.org.

For this season (FALL), we are offering the following sports: Girls/Boys Cross-Country, Girls/Boys Basketball, Baseball or Fast Pitch Softball. Make sure to register at bonitavistacrusaders.com. Remember, any questions, please contact Ivan.quijas@sweetwaterschools.org.

TRYOUT SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9th and August 16th AFTER SCHOOL TILL 3PM, ON THE OUTDOOR COURTS.

You will be evaluated on your:

ATTITUDE

HUSTLE

SKILLS

Bring your basketball shoes, shorts, and some water.

For more information please contact:

Coach Mike Nelson

619-997-1745

19nelson@att.net

Please note that our Information Technology Technician, Bruno.Zamorano@sweetwaterschools.org, is available to all students in our school library for iPad support. Here are some links to provide further assistance with student iPads:

How to set-up your iPad at home: https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/post.jupitered.com/v3/p131557892/1/92657356/iPad_Setup_at_home_Instructions_2024-2025_updated.pdf

How to login to your student email account:

1. Your general password is your birthday written in the format below, followed by an exclamation mark, and two capital Z’s.

Example: If your birthday is September 12, 2012 then your password would be Sep122012!ZZ

2. Once you are logged in, look for the email with the subject titled: “Jupiter login instructions for new families” that was sent on 7/23/24. Clicking on the link in this email will prompt you to set a password for your Jupiter Grades account.

How to download the essential apps that students will need this year: Please open the attached PDF document below

Parents and guardians, to ensure a smooth flow of traffic during drop off and pick-up, please follow our traffic guidelines: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h0yXoyV5YvLAWlj7qBZbbvb0RKGKkEYAoAGqUStI1Bg/edit.

Thank you!

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 or video if possible).

This past Friday, our ASB Dean, Ashley.schroeder@sweetwaterschools.org and our amazing ASB students, recruited 7th and 8th graders to participate in the "Over and Under" Wet Sponge Activity. Students enjoyed competing and getting a little relief from the water used in the activity. Winners of the competition also received popsicles! The first 15 minutes of lunch, students put in song requests (clean songs) and enjoyed listening to music and being with their peers in the main quad.

Character building is embedded in an IB education. We want our students to learn and embody 10 Learner Profiles (See attachment below). Our first Learner Profile: Caring includes students who have made a personal commitment to service, and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and the world around them. We know that during summer breaks, our students provide services to others to make our world a better place. We are asking families to send us pictures and stories that they can share of how their students made a world a better place over this past summer. We will feature these students in future newsletters and in morning announcements to promote the IB profiles and behaviors we want to see in all our students. You can email me directly pictures and stories of how your child provided a service to others this past summer: alexander.salazar-arbelaez@sweetwaterschools.org.

IB Learner Profile Caring: students who are caring show empathy, compassion, and respect towards the needs and feelings of others. They have a personal commitment to service, and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and the world around them.

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