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Fontana Unified School District

  • Fontana Unified Educator Selected as Finalist for California State Teacher of the Year Award

    Live Oak Elementary School teacher Michelle Vazquez discovered her calling for teaching and advocacy at a young age, growing up in a family that ran a foster home for adults with special needs. Vazquez credits her childhood for teaching her the importance of dignity, patience, and creating spaces where everyone feels valued. It’s a lesson the Resource Specialist Program (RSP) teacher has carried with her throughout her 16-plus years in education. That dedication helped lead to her recognition as Live Oak Elementary and Fontana Unified School District’s (FUSD) 2024-25 Teacher of the Year, as well as one of the 2026 San Bernardino Countywide Teachers of the Year. With the county recognition, Vazquez is now a finalist for the 2026 California Department of Education Teacher of the Year award.

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  • Fontana Unified to Expand Student Services by Uniting Award-Winning Continuation Schools

    Fontana Unified School District (FUSD) will strengthen and broaden academic and support services for its continuation high school students as it merges its two Model Continuation High Schools, Citrus and Eric Birch, beginning in the 2025-26 school year. Both continuation schools will consolidate under the name Eric Birch High School, relocating to the former Citrus High site at 10760 Cypress Ave., and adopting the Citrus Jaguars mascot. The FUSD Board of Education approved the merger and an estimated $150,000 cost associated with renaming the Citrus campus to Eric Birch High School during its June 18 meeting. Fontana Unified’s continuation school instruction has been recognized by the California Department of Education (CDE) for its comprehensive excellence. Both Citrus and Eric Birch earned Model Continuation School designations from the CDE for their innovative approach to alternative education, with Citrus earning the three-year status in 2023 and Eric Birch securing recognition in 2024, which extends into the 2025-26 school year.

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  • Fontana Unified to Celebrate Renaming of O’Day Short Elementary School, Honor Family’s Legacy

    Fontana Unified will host a renaming ceremony as Randall Pepper Elementary School officially transitions to O’Day Short Elementary in the 2025-26 school year, honoring the O’Day Short Family, which is remembered for breaking Fontana’s color barrier 80 years ago. District middle school student Cyrus Moss championed the renaming of O’Day Short Elementary. Moss submitted a petition with 132 signatures to rename Randall Pepper Elementary to the Fontana Unified Board of Education in March 2024. The Board unanimously voted to rename the school in September 2024 after all administrative regulations were met.

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19 Fontana Unified High School Football Team Members Earn All-CIF Accolades After Historic Season

Nineteen members of Fontana Unified School District high school football teams have secured prestigious All California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF-SS) division honors, recognizing their outstanding accomplishments in what was a historic football season across the District. A.B. Miller, Jurupa Hills, Henry J. Kaiser and Summit high schools all produced multiple All CIF-SS players in their respective divisions after all four teams qualified for the CIF-SS postseason. The dual-CIF championship Jurupa Hills team had 11 members who earned All CIF-SS Division 8 awards.

Fontana Unified Elementary School Promotes Literacy Through Little Free Library Program

Almond Elementary School is asking its scholars to “take a book and share a book” as it kicks off its new Little Free Library Program, designed to increase access to literature and promote a reading culture beyond the classroom. Almond Elementary installed a wooden box shaped like a little house in the front of the school and stocked it with library books in Nov. 2023, inviting students to borrow and return books at any time. The school’s goal is to provide Little Free Libraries throughout the Almond community by encouraging families to post little libraries on their front lawns during the 2024 spring semester.

Fontana High Realizes Dream, Welcomes Fire Engine to Campus with Traditional Push-In Ceremony

More than 25 Fontana High School (FOHI) students flashed joyful smiles as they huddled around a fire engine and helped deliver it into the school’s Fire Technology and Emergency Services classroom, McGinnis Station 815, during a traditional push-in ceremony on Jan. 10. Members of the Fontana Rotary Club and San Bernardino County Fire Department, who teamed up to donate the fire engine to Fontana High, joined students and staff in cheers and a round of applause during the ceremony. FOHI’s Fire Technology and Emergency Services CTE students will continue to perform hands-on activities with the retired San Bernardino County fire engine throughout the school year.

FUSD Theater Program Gears Up for Second Performance of Season

Fontana Unified’s career technical education program (CTE) is continuing its theater season with a second and final production for 2023-24, the Harry Potter satire “Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic” on Thursday, Feb. 1 and Friday, Feb. 2 at the historic California Theater for the Performing Arts in San Bernardino, under the guidance of A.B. Miller High School multimedia design and drama teacher Joseph Henson. The FUSD Theater Conservatory was established so that young students could discover the joys of theater and work as actors in a professional show, as well as get involved in CTE projects at an early age. The California Theater is located at 562 West 4th St., San Bernardino.

Fontana Unified Math Teacher Named CLE Region 10 Educator of the Year Runner-Up

Southridge Tech Middle School seventh-grade math teacher Linh Nguyen-Carlyle draws upon her own life experiences and challenges to connect with her students, making an impact in the classroom that has earned her recognition as the California League of Educators (CLE) Region 10 Educator of the Year Runner-Up. Nguyen-Carlyle was one of 10 CLE finalists from across the Riverside, Inyo, Mono and San Bernardino counties honored at the Region 10 awards ceremony held last December at the Riverside Mariott.

Fontana Unified Career Technical Education Program Kickstarts Theater Season with ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’

Fontana Unified’s Career Technical Education (CTE) program opened its theater season with live musical productions of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” as District elementary and middle school students got the holiday season off to a spirited and nostalgic start. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is the latest production presented by Fontana Unified’s Theater Conservatory and brought together the talents of Canyon Crest Elementary School, Dorothy Grant Innovations Academy and Wayne Ruble Middle School students at the historic California Theatre for the Performing Arts in San Bernardino. For the first time, it featured an all-student cast, who once again worked with A.B. Miller High School multimedia design teacher Joseph Henson. The FUSD Theater Conservatory was established so that young students could discover the joys of theater and work as actors in a professional show, as well as get involved in CTE projects at an early age.

Fontana Unified Career Technical Education Instructor Honored with Construction Education Award

When Fontana High School career technical education (CTE) instructor Lamar Hanger arrived on campus at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year to lead the school’s building and construction pathway, he had a vision to transform the traditional woodshop into a modern commercial and residential construction lab while conducting his classroom as a job site. In less than three years, Hanger’s passion for teaching – and passing on his knowledge of the construction industry – has nearly tripled the number of students in FOHI’s Career Connections program, a CTE pathway in general construction. For his dedication and enthusiasm in guiding the next generation of homebuilders, Hanger has been honored by the Associated General Contractors of California (AGC) with their Construction Education Friend Award. Hanger will be presented with the award at the AGC Installation and Awards Gala on Feb. 2 in San Francisco.

FUSD TV Production Students Partner for Launch of New Program

Fontana Unified School District students and staff from Summit and A.B. Miller high schools partnered with students in Baldwin Park High School’s sports media club to share best practices and mentorship in preparation for BPHS’ launch of a news broadcast, the Braves Sports Network, on Jan. 17. Summit and A.B. Miller students shared filming and editing techniques they have learned through their schools’ career technical educational pathways in TV/film and video production.

Theatre Students from Fontana Unified’s Kaiser High Earn Honors at State Festival with Shakespeare Performance

Henry J. Kaiser High School theatre students qualified for the prestigious California Educational Theatre Association’s (CETA) State Festival and walked away with several awards for their production of William Shakespeare’s “Cymbeline” on Jan. 13. Kaiser’s fall play impressed judges at the Regional CETA Festival in December, resulting in a first place win out of 16 schools and a spot in the State Festival. This is Kaiser High School’s 13th year competing and their first top win at the regional level.

Fontana Unified to Host Black History Month Celebration

Fontana Unified School District and the FUSD African American Parent Advisory Council will honor the rich contributions of African and African American heritage during a Black History Month celebration at Fontana High School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3. With its theme of “Harmony in Heritage and Knowledge,” the event will be split into two parts, with a Black Excellence Awards Ceremony, to be held in the FOHI theater beginning at 10 a.m., and continuing with a Black History Celebration Fair, beginning at noon in the school quad. The Celebration Fair will include live performances, traditional African dancing, arts, crafts and exhibits. Fontana High School is located at 9453 Citrus Ave., Fontana.