FONTANA, CA – Fontana Unified School District has continued its seven-year streak of excellence in the annual California Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Coalition Awards for its success in fostering positive learning environments. Twenty-nine schools earned PBIS awards, including nine platinum accolades, to set a District record in total and platinum PBIS awards received in a single year.

Fontana Unified’s historic haul of PBIS Implementation Awards is evidence of the District’s strengthened commitment to developing a supportive campus culture and encouraging positive behaviors through the comprehensive PBIS framework. PBIS honors are awarded at platinum, gold, silver and bronze levels, with this year’s awards commending schools for proper implementation of PBIS strategies during the 2022-23 school year.

Cypress, Date, Juniper, and Redwood Elementary Schools, Dolores Huerta International Academy, and Alder, Harry S. Truman, Sequoia and Southridge Tech Middle Schools secured platinum recognition for making PBIS practices an integral part of their school culture over several years.

Eleven FUSD schools qualified for gold-level honors: Live Oak, Oleander, Poplar, Randall Pepper, Sierra Lakes, West Randall and Virginia Primrose elementary schools; Fontana Middle School; and Citrus, Eric Birch and Jurupa Hills high schools. Eight more received silver awards: Almond, Mango and Maple elementary schools; Dorothy Grant Innovations Academy; Almeria Middle School; and A.B. Miller, Fontana and Henry J. Kaiser high schools. Canyon Crest Elementary rounded out the 29 District honorees with a bronze-level distinction.

“These awards are a testament to the dedicated staff who are making a difference at their schools, from our principals, counselors, teachers, PBIS coaches, and Climate and Culture Team – without them there would be nothing,” said Ayesha Brooks, Fontana Unified Director of Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). “The District has committed to making sure this work was not only implemented but overseen and monitored properly. Fontana really invests in its students and is reaping the benefits of that effort.”

PBIS is a proactive and evidence-based framework designed to create supportive learning environments and promote positive behaviors in educational settings. It emphasizes the teaching of clear behavioral expectations to everyone in a classroom setting and utilizes a three-tiered approach to interventions.

Fontana Unified dedicated resources to PBIS by developing an MTSS Department that now consists of nearly 30 employees, including 15 social-emotional support staff of counselors and mental health therapists and 12 Climate and Culture specialists/coaches who are dedicated to fostering positive campus cultures at each school.

Fontana Unified’s PBIS system is unique from many others because of how they blend the PBIS framework with restorative practices, along with a significant investment in professional development and peer collaboration between school sites, Brooks said.

All 29 FUSD schools will be honored at the annual California PBIS Coalition Conference, which will be held Oct. 11 to 13 in Sacramento.

“Fontana Unified’s ability to make tremendous gains in the California PBIS Awards year after year is simply incredible,” Superintendent Miki R. Inbody said. “These awards are evidence of the perseverance and dedication of our employees who put this critical work into action day in and day out. This work is critical and we are committed to implementing it in the right way.”

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

FUSD_PBIS1: Students head to class at Almond Elementary School, which was one of 29 Fontana Unified school to earn a 2022-23 PBIS Award for fostering positive learning environments. PBIS honors are awarded at platinum, gold, silver and bronze levels.

FUSD_PBIS2: A.B. Miller High School staff welcome students back to campus. Twenty-nine Fontana Unified schools earned 2022-23 PBIS Awards, including A.B. Miller, to mark a single-year high in total PBIS Awards for the District in all seven years the California PBIS Awards have been released.