Bonita High School is a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in the city of

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,063 at the 2010 census, down from 31,638 at the 2000 census. History The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomare ...

in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Opened in 1903, it was the first high school in the

Bonita Unified School District Bonita Unified School District serves the communities of San Dimas and La Verne, and part of Glendora, in Los Angeles County. The Bonita Unified School District has over 10,000 students in 14 schools. The district's headquarters are in Sa ...

. It moved to its current campus in 1959. The majority of its students come from Ramona Middle School, which is also located in La Verne. The Bearcat athletic teams compete in the Palomares League of the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CI ...

History

In 1903, high school classes started on the second floor of a La Verne store. The classes were quickly moved to the building of nearby La Verne Public School (now La Verne Heights Elementary). Two teachers helped open Bonita Union High School, the first school in the

, that fall. In 1905, the school relocated to a two-story Mission-style building on Bonita Avenue. The size of the school was expanded to 23 acres in 1922. In 1959, due to the overcrowding of the school, the school was sold to the Catholic Church and opened as Damien High School. Bonita moved to D Street, where the current campus still stands. The school celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2003.

Recognition

In 1996 and 2003, Bonita was recognized as a

California Distinguished School California Distinguished School is an award given by the California State Board of Education to public schools within the state that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs. Approximately 5-10% of California schools are awarded t ...

for its excellence in Academics, Athletics, and the Arts, with a California Standardized Testing (CST) rating of 846 (the California standard is 1000 with a score of 800 considered excellent).

Arts

The Bonita band programs include a jazz band, concert band,

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ...

, color guard, winter guard, and indoor percussion.

Notable alumni

Cliff Bleszinski Cliff Bleszinski (; born February 12, 1975), popularly known as CliffyB, is an American video game designer, known for his work in the development of the '' Unreal'' and ''Gears of War'' series. After working at Epic Games from 1992 to 2012, he ...

(born 1975), video game designer, former design director for

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, ...

, founder of Boss Key Productions, known for his role in the development of the ''Unreal'' franchise and the ''

Gears of War ''Gears of War'' is a media franchise centered on a series of video games created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise is best known for its third-person shooter vide ...

'' franchise. * Glenn Davis (1924–2005), Professional football player; Heisman Trophy winner; West Point graduate; special events director for the ''Los Angeles Times'' *

Jason David Frank Jason David Frank (September 4, 1973 – November 19, 2022) was an American actor and martial artist. He was known for his role as Tommy Oliver in ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' and other ''Power Rangers'' series. Early life Frank was born in ...

(1973-2022), American actor,

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

and professional

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

fighter, best known for playing

Tommy Oliver Dr. Tommy Oliver is a fictional character and the overarching main protagonist of the American live-action television franchise ''Power Rangers''. He is best known as being the original Green Ranger and the first evil Ranger who fought and near ...

in ''

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise '' Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS ...

''. * Gordon Goodwin (born 1954), studio pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger and conductor. He leads

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, or simply The Big Phat Band, is an 18-piece jazz orchestra that combines the big band swing of the 1930s and 1940s with contemporary music such as funk and jazz fusion. The band is led by Gordon Goodwin, who arr ...

. *

Erin Gruwell Erin Gruwell (born August 15, 1969) is an American teacher known for her unique teaching method, which led to the publication of ''The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them ...

(born 1969), unorthodox high school teacher, author, and main character in the 2007 movie Freedom Writers. *

Jeremy Reed Jeremy Thomas Reed (born June 15, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life Reed graduated from Bonita High School in La Verne, California in 1999, and went on to play college basebal ...

(born 1981), professional baseball player who played for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

. * Earl Smith (1928–2014), Major League Baseball center fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their 1956 season. * Matt Wise (born 1975), professional baseball player for the

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

and

References

External links

Bonita High School
{{authority control High schools in Los Angeles County, California La Verne, California Public high schools in California 1959 establishments in California Educational institutions established in 1959