President's Message

Hi and welcome to the Bellflower Unified School District website. It is an honor to be able to serve all three of our communities as a Board Member, and especially now as the seated President for 2015. To follow are some facts and thoughts I would like to pass along.

The Bellflower Unified School District currently serves a student population of just under 13,000 K-12 students, within an eight square mile area in southeast Los Angeles County. It includes most of Bellflower, a large portion of Lakewood and a small portion of Cerritos. Several of our schools have been recognized as California Distinguished Schools, three have been honored as National Blue Ribbon Schools and two were acknowledged as Title I Achievement Schools. Somerset Continuation High School has recently received its fifth commendation as a California Model Continuation High School. The district also includes an alternative education program, and a new Home Education/Independent Study Program, while also serving pre-school students in Head Start.

Bellflower USD continues to offer quality programs and services within safe and clean facilities. It is because of the efforts of the certificated and classified staff that our classrooms are engaging and in well-kept condition for our students to enter each and every day.

Many of the school facilities have been in need of upgrades and improvements to keep pace with the “Standard of Excellence.” With the passage of Measure BB, I along with the Governing Board have seen wonderful improvements to our schools for the students attending on a daily basis. Thomas Jefferson is now fully air conditioned, roofs have been repaired and the infrastructure for improved technology has seen a huge increase. This is a great opportunity for our students to be even more engaged with learning through technology. We are looking forward to even greater improvements that will provide an even higher quality of school learning environment for all of our children. Thank you for your support in passing such a valuable bond measure.

Safe and friendly learning environments are also a top priority for the BUSD Board of Education. This is seen with each of our schools having a comprehensive Safe School Plan that is updated annually, Anti-Bullying Themes, Positive Behavior Intervention Systems, and Character Education Programs K-12. Each of these creates and sustains a positive and safe learning environment conducive to excellence.

The Board of Education consistently enforces a zero tolerance policy for drugs and weapons. With Content Standards at every grade level, a strong curriculum, and textbooks for every student, we are teaching fundamentals that will empower students to become active lifelong learners. We provide opportunities for support services for students at risk, to further enable them to become informed, productive, independent, and contributing citizens in today’s diverse society.

The Board of Education is committed to maintaining these high quality programs and beautiful facilities while continuing to keep a balanced budget. We are continually looking for ways to strengthen our services and support programs in order to improve student learning.

Our students are at the center of all of our decisions, goals, and strategic actions. We pride ourselves on being student centered, and have high expectations for them. We want every student to meet the “Standard of Excellence; Nothing Less.”

Jerry Cleveland

 President, Board of Education