FONTANA, CA – Fontana Unified School District welcomed students back for the 2019-20 school year on Aug. 7 with celebrations of school and District milestones, new career technical pathways and expanded educational programs to boost student success.

New and returning Palmetto Elementary School families were greeted with balloons and an orange carpet, with teachers and staff blowing bubbles and cheering the students, who were eager to find their classrooms for the new school year.

“We are very excited to begin the new school year,” Palmetto Principal Lauri Martin said. “We are moving ahead with our goals, and it is going to be an amazing year.”

Jurupa Hills High School kicked off the year with a 10th anniversary celebration, treating students and staff to music, face painting, games and inflatable slides and obstacle courses.

This year, Fontana Unified will focus on becoming a center for innovation while continuing to ensure every student has the tools to be successful.

In addition to expanding strategic partnerships globally and locally, the District will move forward with its plan to build a new secondary school/museum/community science center, roll out its 1:1 device initiative and launch new career technical education pathways.

Such pathways include a two-year mechatronics pathway at Summit High School and an aviation pathway at A.B. Miller High School. Henry J. Kaiser High School also seeks to expand its Kaiser Renewable Energy Arts Technology Engineering Entrepreneurship (KREATE2 ) Academy and will open a state-of-the-art Makerspace for students in the fall.

Kaiser High administrators, teachers and staff greeted students clad in graduation gowns on the first day of school, as Link Crew members welcomed their peers wearing signs of encouragement.

“The goal is to help students keep the end in mind,” Principal Terry Abernathy said. “We want them to be thinking about and striving toward graduation from day one and to know we are all here to help them succeed.”

Fontana Unified will also further its efforts to prepare students for global success this year through a newly launched Spanish Dual Language Immersion program at Redwood Elementary. Redwood is the District’s second Dual Language Immersion school, joining Dolores Huerta International Academy in fostering bilingualism, biliteracy and intercultural understanding.

“Over the last several years, we taken steps to build an academic experience that transcends the ever-changing educational and professional landscape,” Fontana Unified Superintendent Randal S. Bassett said. “We are excited to see many of these ideas come together in 2019-20, and look forward to what our students will accomplish as we empower them to become innovators.”

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

FUSD_BTS_1: Kaiser High School’s Link Crew students wear signs of encouragement as they welcome students on the first day of school.

FUSD_BTS_2: Alder Middle School students reunite with their friends before class on Aug. 7.