Chino Valley Unified events, accomplishments

Some of the latest news items from the school district:

The following district schools were included in the 2009 Honor Roll of the California Business for Education Excellence: Butterfield Ranch, Cortez, Country Springs, Eagle Canyon, Rhodes, Rolling Ridge, Wickman and Ayala. 

The award honors schools that have been recognized by California's business community for having demonstrated consistently high student academic achievement and have made significant progress toward closing achievement gaps among all their students. 

Anna Borba Elementary School has been taken off the federal watch list for Program Improvement.

Chino High School's 77th Calvary won the championships in the 6A Division of the Southern California School Band and 

Orchestra Association Championships on Saturday. 

Ayala High School students have so far collected 10 extra large boxes of clothing that will be donated to several organizations in the area including: Hillview Acres, Chino Neighborhood House, Byer's Family Foundation in Chino, and the Foothill Family Shelter in Upland.

The students will be traveling to the shelters on <NO1>Dec. 19<NO>Saturday to distribute the items. Other Ayala students have been busy collecting toys and pennies, adopting families in need and helping in the community with decorations and gift wrapping.

Students and staff at Woodcrest and Magnolia junior highs and Chino Hills High have collected food for the Neighborhood House in Chino, which is experiencing higher than normal requests for assistance this year. Students at Chino High collected more than 7,000 cans of food for Chino Neighborhood House. 

Krista Landgraf, a teacher at Country Springs Elementary School, received the California Association for the Gifted Distinguished Service Award. 

Anita Arora, Middle Years Program coordinator at Don Lugo High, was selected as one of the top 10 Outstanding Educational Leaders by the California League of High Schools. 

The cross country teams at Magnolia Junior High enjoyed a successful season with 12 trophies awarded for first- and second-place finishes for both boys and girls.

Ayala High also won three of five caption awards at the Western Band Association Finals, including Best Music, Best Percussion and Best Visual. 

Don Lugo High Marching Band and Color Guard are the Division 4A California State Band Champions. 

The Ayala High girls cross country team won the Sierra League title for the first time in 3 years. 

Chino Hills High is celebrating the varsity football team's appearance in the CIF semifinals. Three athletes have received Division 1 scholarships and Jenna Carpenter qualified for the CIF Cross Country finals. 

Students at Don Lugo High created more than 600 food baskets for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are currently in the process of collecting 700 toys to be donated to local needy families. 

Construction of the stadium at Don Lugo High is progressing with the installation of the scoreboard, construction of the front of the ticket booth and concession stand, and the laying of the track foundation.