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 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 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.
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.
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 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
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.
Fontana Unified Opens Applications for Spanish Dual-Language Program
Fontana Unified School District is accepting applications for 2021-22 enrollment in its Spanish Dual-Language Immersion (DLI) program, which begins in kindergarten and is offered at Redwood Elementary School and Dolores Huerta International Academy. The DLI program aims to foster bilingualism and biliteracy, sociocultural competency and high levels of academic achievement. For more information, visit www.fusd.net/enrollment.
Fontana Unified High School Recognized for Diversity in AP Program
The College Board has honored A.B. Miller High School for expanding young women’s access to Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science classes, recognizing the school with its 2020 AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award. A.B. Miller High received the award for achieving 50% or greater female exam taker participation in its AP Computer Science (CS) Principles class. A.B. Miller High is one of 1,119 schools across the United States recognized for fostering equal gender representation during the 2019-20 school year. This is the second year in a row that the school’s AP CS Principles has been over 50% female. The course has proven so successful that students asked for an additional AP computer science course to be added to the curriculum.
