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Fontana Unified School District

  • Fontana Unified Kicks Off 2025-26 School Year with New Beginnings, Historic Milestones

    Colorful signs, lively music, and cheerful staff welcomed back more than 30,000 Fontana Unified School District students, who greeted each other with smiles, hugs, or fist bumps, for the first day of the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 6. The first day of the new academic year marks a new chapter for all 44 Fontana Unified schools – many of which have earned recognition, including California Schools to Watch, California Distinguished Schools, and California Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Coalition Awards, among other honors.

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  • Fontana Unified Completes Historic Renaming of O’Day Short Elementary School, Honoring Family’s Legacy

    Less than 24 hours before the start of the 2025-26 school year, Fontana Unified School District (FUSD) celebrated the renaming of O’Day Short Elementary School on Aug. 5, honoring the courageous legacy of the Short family, who inspired the renaming of the school after breaking Fontana’s color barrier at the school site nearly 80 years ago. Fontana Unified hosted the official renaming ceremony for O’Day Short Elementary – previously named Randall Pepper Elementary School – at the school’s campus, drawing a standing-room-only crowd of school and District staff, students, residents, elected officials, and two living relatives of the Short family.

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

    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.

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Fontana Unified Elementary School to Provide Students with Plush Therapy Tools, Bolster Personal Connection

Almond Elementary School showed appreciation to students and families on March 31, presenting them with therapy dolls designed to provide comfort and reestablish much-needed personal connections. Every Almond student received a Mimbleball, a five-inch round polyester doll with button eyes and long acrylic hair, that helps relieve stress and anxiety and can be enjoyed by all age groups. The Mimbleballs were distributed during the school’s weekly meal distribution, with principal Tim McCaffrey greeting students dressed as a giant Mimbleball.

Fontana Unified Student Supports Peers with Gift Card Fundraising Drive

Canyon Crest Elementary School fifth-grader Noah Walker wanted to do more to help families facing hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initiating a community fundraiser, Walker raised approximately $650 and used it to purchase a variety of gift cards – including McDonald’s, Target, and other food-related cards – for families in need. The gift cards will be distributed to families beginning Monday, March 29 and continue throughout the week. Canyon Crest Elementary is at 11851 Cherry Ave., Fontana.

Fontana Unified Career Technical Education Students Go for the Gold in SkillsUSA Competition, Advance to State Contest

Summit High School career technical education (CTE) students delivered impressive performances at the SkillsUSA Region 6 2021 Virtual Leadership and Skill Conference, earning 15 gold medals and sending 46 students to the state finals, to be held in April. From entrepreneurship and cyber security to pin design, Summit students rose to the challenge of the virtual format, medaling or placing in 17 separate categories. Medalists included Aaron Vera, Emma Hernandez, Natalia Ramirez and Jade Centeno, who captured gold in Entrepreneurship for their startup app Wisteria, a healthcare platform that allows users to access a wide range of mental health services and resources, with the goal of increasing equity in mental health resources for underrepresented populations.

Fontana Unified Administrators Honored by ACSA Region 12 for Excellence in Leadership

Fontana Unified School District administrators were honored for excellence in leadership by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Region 12 Board of Directors, earning 2021 ACSA Administrator Awards. The FUSD honorees are Almeria Middle School Principal Kim Bente, Middle Grades Principal of the Year; Director of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Ayesha Brooks, Student Services Administrator of the Year; Director of Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Michael Garcia, Valuing Diversity Administrator of the Year; Fontana High School Assistant Principal Marissa Quintero, Secondary Co-administrator of the Year; and Dolores Huerta International Academy Assistant Principal Janet Rivera, Elementary Co-administrator of the Year.

Fontana Unified Approves Plan to Resume In-Person Instruction for Elementary Students in April

Fontana Unified School District has approved a phased return to in-person instruction for elementary school students, with plans to welcome transitional kindergarteners through second-grade students back to campus on April 5 and grades three to five on April 12. The target return date was approved alongside a modified hybrid instructional model, which would consist of three cohorts of students, by the Board of Education during a March 3 special meeting.

Fontana Unified Middle School Student Recognized for Leadership with ACSA Every Student Succeeding Award

Sequoia Middle School eighth-grader Matthew Barrera was recognized by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Region 12 Board of Directors with the 2021 Every Student Succeeding Award, celebrating his academic achievement and leadership in the classroom. Barrera has risen to the challenges posed by the death of his mother when he was 11 years old and a relocation from Idaho to California to live with relatives, becoming a straight-A student and distance learning mentor. Barrera will receive a $1,000 scholarship and be recognized in the ACSA Region 12 online award ceremony in May.

Fontana Unified Elementary School to Bolster Personal Connections through Care Package, Teddy Bear Distribution

Redwood Elementary School counselor Eduardo Valencia has seen firsthand the socio-emotional toll that COVID-19 has taken on his students and their families, hearing countless stories of personal and financial loss that are causing students to disengage from their studies. To assist in providing comfort to Redwood families and to reestablish much-needed personal connections, Valencia and Redwood Elementary distributed teddy bears and care packages to every student, teacher, and staff member – 600 in all – during a weeklong, after-school event from Feb. 22-26.

Fontana Unified to Partner with Paper Education, Provide Students with 24/7 Online Tutoring

Fontana Unified students will receive live, 24/7 aid in core subjects and an array of electives through a new District partnership with digital tutoring service Paper Education. The service will launch in March, providing students in grades three to 12 with access to one-on-one tutoring 24 hours a day, seven days a week in English and Spanish. The partnership is the latest effort in the District’s longtime mission to ensure equity in education, aided by initiatives that tackle the digital divide and achievement gap. The service will launch in March, providing students in grades three to 12 with access to one-on-one tutoring 24 hours a day, seven days a week in English and Spanish.

Fontana Unified to Host Virtual Session on Health and Wellness

Fontana Unified will host a virtual Parent University session from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday

Three Fontana Unified Administrators Advance to New Leadership Positions

A commitment to student achievement and professional development distinguishes three Fontana Unified administrators who are advancing to new positions within the District. Kaiser High School Principal Terry Abernathy has been named Fontana Unified’s new Director of Secondary Education, Redwood Elementary School Principal Eduardo Gomez will become Administrator of Dual Language Immersion and Global Competencies, and A.B. Miller High School Assistant Principal Melissa Weber will move to Alder Middle School as its new principal.