Santa Maria-Bonita School District

Congratulations to Ontiveros School for coming in First Place at last Friday's annual SMBSD Track Meet for 3rd through 6th graders! Taylor School runners earned Second Place and Oakley School students captured Third Place. All of the runners displayed great perseverance, teamwork and sportsmanship. They are a credit to their schools! A big shout out to all the coaches, district staff and families who helped the students do their best!

Safran in Santa Maria has helped make Battles School even more inviting for students, families and staff! The local company, through its Give & Grow grant program, recently created a school-wide beautification project. More than 100 volunteers used paint, plants and elbow grease to update the Battles School campus. The volunteers, many who work for Safran's aerospace divisions, painted murals, planted trees, added colorful designs to playground asphalt, fenced a garden area, installed fence art and updated the look of the library.   The school logo and Bear mascot were painted on the front of the school and other locations. Other murals included learning themes, inspirational messages, animal characters and science facts. Four square and tether ball game play spaces, a compass and a US map were painted on blacktop locations.

Miller School collected Pennies for Patients and raised $2, 700 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Ms. Demition’s Transitional Kindergarten class collected more than $225 and was the top fundraising class.

Ontiveros School recently raised more money than any other school in the area for Mission Hope Cancer Center.  Representatives from Mission Hope and Marian Regional Medical Center visited Ontiveros to thank the students, staff and families for donating $4, 104. 50 to local cancer patients through the school's Day of Hope fundraising drive. AMAZING generosity, Condors!

SMBSD is proud to honor Student Transportation of America (STA) as the district's 2019 Business Partner of the Year. STA is the bus company that transports all of our students to and from school, on field trips and to sports events.   Every day, STA makes scheduling miracles happen. The STA staff is always able to accommodate last minute route changes, field trip requests and special needs safely and effectively. The company supports district fundraisers and events and will do whatever it takes to help children be successful in school. There is nothing more important than the safety of SMBSD students, and STA makes that a priority each and every day.

Would you like it to be easier and less stressful to ride a bike or walk around Santa Maria? The City of Santa Maria is beginning an update of its Active Transportation Plan. This plan will identify a connected network of streets, trails, and paths that can make bicycling and walking comfortable and convenient for people of all ages and abilities, including students going to school.  The City needs your help to identify where improvements are needed or where you have experienced difficulties while biking or walking. The City has a project website, www. activesantamaria. com, that has information on the plan including an interactive mapping tool that makes it easy for everyone to pinpoint locations within the City and provide comments on what is needed or describe the issue of concern. Please visit the project website and provide the City with your input. There is also a public workshop Thursday, May 9th, from 5-7 p. m. in Shepard Hall at the Santa Maria Public Library to discuss bike and pedestrian safety/mobility throughout the City of Santa Maria, including Safe Routes to School for students.