Fontana Unified Strengthens Leadership Team with 12 New Appointments for 2025-26 School Year

FONTANA, CA – Fontana Unified School District (FUSD) is heading into the 2025-26 school year with 12 new administrative appointments, including five interim appointments, as part of a strategic reorganization designed to optimize leadership assignments within the District.

Two Fontana Unified administrators took on new roles within the reorganization at the District level, with former school principals Christopher Hollister, Ed.D., and Patricia Corral, Ed.D., named Executive Director of Secondary Education and Interim Executive Director of Classified Human Resources, respectively.

Additionally, 10 FUSD schools will open the school year with new principals, including O’Day Short (formerly Randall Pepper), Live Oak, Mango, Palmetto, and Sierra Lakes elementary schools; Sequoia and Wayne Ruble middle schools; Fontana and Henry J. Kaiser high schools; and the District’s new secondary academy that will open to seventh through 12th grade students in 2026-27.

“Fontana Unified is fortunate to have such a talented and passionate team of educators and leaders,” Superintendent Miki R. Inbody said. “This reorganization is rooted in our commitment to growing with purpose, aligning leadership strengths with the evolving needs of our schools, students, and community.”

The District’s new administrators and their roles are:

• Christopher Hollister, Ed.D., FUSD Executive Director of Secondary Education: A longtime educator and administrator who served as Kaiser High’s principal for the last two years, Hollister moves to the District office’s Teaching and Learning Division as the Executive Director of Secondary Education after previously holding an associate superintendent role in Chaffey Joint Union High School District.

• Patricia Corral, Ed.D., FUSD Interim Executive Director of Classified Human Resources: Corral transitions to the District office after serving as Live Oak Elementary School’s principal since she came to FUSD in 2014. She previously held teaching positions in the East Whittier City School District and Cucamonga School District.

• Michelle Avila, Ed.D., O’Day Short Elementary School Principal: Avila will lead the newly-renamed O’Day Short Elementary School (previously Randall Pepper Elementary) after serving FUSD as Mango Elementary’s principal. She takes over for O’Day Short’s previous principal, Theresa Gomez, who will join the administration team at Beech Elementary.

• Anne-Marie Cabrales, New Secondary Academy Principal: Cabrales will be instrumental as Fontana Unified prepares to open its yet-to-be-named secondary academy in 2026-27. Within FUSD, she has served as principal at Wayne Ruble Middle and Dorothy Grant Elementary schools and was named the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Region 12’s Middle School Administrator of the Year in 2024.

• Joseph Malatesta, Fontana High School Principal: Malatesta takes over as Fontana High principal after serving as an assistant principal at Fontana High for multiple years and at Summit High in 2024-25. Fontana High has earned a number of awards in recent years, including recognition as an AVID National Demonstration School, RIMS AVID Impact Award, and Advanced Placement honors.

• Kimberly Moyer, Ed.D., Wayne Ruble Middle School Principal: After serving as Palmetto Elementary’s principal since 2022, Moyer makes the move to Wayne Ruble Middle School. She has more than 16 years of experience in education in FUSD, including teaching and serving as an assistant principal at the middle school level.

• Michael Rodriguez, Mango Elementary School Principal: Rodriguez’s 13th year in school administration will be his first as Mango Elementary principal. He has nine years of experience as an assistant principal, including the last three years at Cypress Elementary.

• Monica Young, Henry J. Kaiser High School Principal: After serving as Sequoia Middle School’s principal for the last three school years, Young returns to Kaiser High, where she worked as an assistant principal from 2017 to 22. Under her leadership, Sequoia earned California and National School to Watch designations in 2023-24.

• Derek Cohen, Interim Palmetto Elementary School Principal: Cohen will start his 11th year in Fontana Unified as Palmetto Elementary’s interim principal after serving as assistant principal at the school in 2024-25. Before Palmetto, he taught at Shadow Hills Elementary and Fontana Middle schools.

• Brittney Davis-Fox, Interim Sequoia Middle School Principal: Davis-Fox will take the helm at Sequoia Middle School after serving as assistant principal in 2023-24, during which time the school earned recognition as both a California and National School to Watch, as well as an Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) National Demonstration School.

• Monysa Pollard, Ed.D., Interim Live Oak Elementary School Principal: Pollard steps in as Live Oak Elementary’s new principal, with experience in FUSD as a teacher, assistant principal, and most recently, the District’s Assistant Director of Assessment and Accountability.

• David Whyte, Interim Sierra Lakes Elementary School Principal: Whyte will lead Sierra Lakes Elementary School this year after serving as an assistant principal at Dorothy Grant Innovations Academy since 2019.

PHOTO CAPTION:

FUSD_LEADERSHIP: From left to right: Christopher Hollister, Ed.D.; Patricia Corral, Ed.D.; Michelle Avila, Ed.D.; Anne-Marie Cabrales; Joseph Malatesta; Kimberly Moyer, Ed.D.; Michael Rodriguez; Monica Young; Derek Cohen; Brittney Davis-Fox; Monysa Pollard, Ed.D.; and David Whyte are assuming new administrative positions in Fontana Unified. Ten schools will start the 2025-26 school year with new principals.