Rowland students and Rotary build holiday baskets

Photo by Gina Ward, courtesy of Rowland Unified

Photo by Gina Ward, courtesy of Rowland Unified

Last Saturday more than 200 students and members from the Walnut Valley Rotary gathered at Alvarado Intermediate to assemble holiday baskets for families in need in the Rowland Unified School District.

Students from Interact clubs at Rowland High School, Walnut High School, ASB students from Nogales and Santana High Schools, along with college students involved with Rotary from Cal Poly Pomona and Mt. SAC gathered at 7 a.m. to assemble the 11,567 cans of food and 250 turkeys that were donated.

There were 320 holiday baskets assembled that families from across the Rowland Unified School District received.

Rowland High celebrates 50th anniversary Friday

By Rowland Unified

The entire community is invited on Friday, starting at 3:15 p.m. to celebrate Rowland High School’s 50th anniversary with a fun-filled, community jubilee.

Rowland began as a small community where students were just as likely to ride a horse to school as drive a car, and the 50th Jubilee will celebrate with a good ole’ fashioned Country Western theme.image001

“Being a lifelong Raider as a student, teacher, and now principal of the school, I am very proud of its history and traditions. I look forward to highlighting the school and its connection to the community at our Jubilee and I hope everyone can join us,” said Rowland High School Principal Mitch Brunyer, who is in charge of the volunteer committee.

Everyone is invited: alumni, students, parents, faculty/staff (past and present), and community members. For the latest information, visit www.rowlandhs.org.

The campus will be filled with free activities such as game and photo booths, entertainment, visit “Memory Lane Displays” and tours of the new modernized facilities will begin at 3:15 p.m. There will also be a variety of food booths.

A special opportunity to meet former and current faculty and staff including every principal in Rowland High’s history will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the gym.

The Rowland Raiders Homecoming Football Game begins at 7 p.m. (Game tickets are $6, students $3.)

VIDEOS: Have fun learning a bit of Rowland High School history with new videos each day this week to celebrate the countdown to the 50th Jubilee with videos posted on You Tube – click HERE.

NEW BUILDING TOURS:

D-Building: This building was expanded to nine classrooms housing science classes (Physics, Anatomy, Biology, Chemistry and Earth Science). Each room features individual lab stations, interactive whiteboards, voice amplification, chemical resistant cabinets, countertops and flooring and the chemistry rooms feature fume hoods. There is also a central common instructor’s work room that includes instrument and chemical storage.

E-Building: This building mainly houses Career Technical Education classrooms. Every classroom has new doors, flooring and tackable wall surfaces. Many rooms have interactive whiteboards and voice amplification or are wired to receive the technology in the near future. The modernization of this building includes four new computer labs, the Rainbow Preschool facility, child care and home economics rooms. The culinary arts room was previously modernized, but recently also included technology upgrades.

Aquatics Center:  The new facility features a designed plaza entrance with an expanded 12 lane pool and deck. It has a shade structure with seating, a digital scoreboard, lighting, new filtering equipment and the infrastructure to add solar technology in the future. Restroom facilities for the athletes and public have been added along with team rooms, outdoor showers and a coach’s office.

The Future:  In the next few years, the community can look forward to: a state-of-the-art performing arts center, a new multipurpose room, eating facilities, student quad area, a two-story administration building with a new library on the top floor, and a new two-story classroom building that will replace portable buildings.

Rainbow Preschool looking forward to new room at Rowland High

By Richard Irwin, Staff Writer

Rainbow Preschool at Rowland High is literally a three-ring circus. While clowns entertained the tots outside, workers are finishing up the new preschool facilities inside.

The tiny preschoolers were treated to some circus fun on Thursday. The La Puente Valley ROP students decided to entertain the youngsters with feats of daring.

Meanwhile, work crews were getting ready to lay cement in the new tot lot on the Rowland High campus. They have spent the past year rebuilding the old preschool classroom.

Contractors began by tearing the walls out down to the original studs. Crews installed new wiring and plumbing, before adding new insulation and sound deadening material.

“We’ve waited more than 30 years for this remodeling,” said preschool director Patricia Hakim. “But it was worth the wait!”

Hakim credited district officials and Principal Mitch Brunyer, who actually attended the preschool when he was young.

“Our new preschool center is actually bigger because they took out an office and storage area next door,” Hakim noted. “Now, we’ll have enough room to separate the 3- and 4-year-old groups.”

The new carpeting, walls, windows and lighting are just the beginning. The preschool also received new furniture for the popular ROP program.

Tiny, bright red chairs sat stacked against the classroom wall. Small blue cots will replace the vinyl mats the tots used to take naps on. The sturdy little cots have plastic legs and canvas bedding.

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story PRESCHOOL.

Rainbow Preschool creates circus at Rowland High in Rowland Heights

This Thursday from 8:30 – 10 a.m., the Rainbow Preschool located at Rowland High School will have the high school students create a circus for the preschooler’s in Portable 33.

There is still space for the summer program that runs until July 11 for children ages 21/2 to 4 years old. (Hours are Monday – Friday 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.)

The preschool is also taking Fall enrollment now – fall semester begins on Aug.  19 for the cost of $385 per month. For more information, call Pat Hakim at (626) 965-3448.