FONTANA, CA – Fontana Unified is preparing students for a successful start to the 2020-21 year, which begins Aug. 24 in online distance learning, with the continued distribution of laptops to students from transitional kindergarten to 12th grade.

During a video interview between Mayor Acquanetta Warren and FUSD Superintendent Randal Bassett, Fontana Unified received a $25,000 donation from the National Real Estate Development Association’s Inland Empire chapter (NAIOP). The donation will help offset the costs of providing the District’s 36,000 students with laptops.

“NAIOP IE is proud to support the Fontana Unified School District with a $25,000 contribution to purchase laptop computers for its students,” NAIOP IE President Steve Haston said. “The contribution will help our children, hard-working teachers and dedicated administrators with the challenges of distance learning in the new school year. We are proud of the strong partnership that our industry shares with the City of Fontana, its residents and our local school district.”

In addition to ensuring that each student has a laptop to support online learning, the District is providing connectivity support as needed and parent technical training on software, such as Microsoft Teams, that will be used during distance learning.

“We realize that this year will begin in a completely different way than what we’ve experienced before,” Bassett said. “We want to make sure that we are doing as much as possible to prepare our families and students for success in this online learning environment. We are very thankful to the City of Fontana and the National Real Estate Development Association’s partnership and support in making this possible.”

Fontana Unified held parent webinars on Microsoft Teams in English and Spanish from July 21-29. The sessions highlighted helpful tips and reviewed the platform’s functionality. Videos of the sessions and additional parent support resources are available at www.fusd.net.