fbpx

Fontana Unified School District

  • Fontana Unified Educator Selected as Finalist for California State Teacher of the Year Award

    Live Oak Elementary School teacher Michelle Vazquez discovered her calling for teaching and advocacy at a young age, growing up in a family that ran a foster home for adults with special needs. Vazquez credits her childhood for teaching her the importance of dignity, patience, and creating spaces where everyone feels valued. It’s a lesson the Resource Specialist Program (RSP) teacher has carried with her throughout her 16-plus years in education. That dedication helped lead to her recognition as Live Oak Elementary and Fontana Unified School District’s (FUSD) 2024-25 Teacher of the Year, as well as one of the 2026 San Bernardino Countywide Teachers of the Year. With the county recognition, Vazquez is now a finalist for the 2026 California Department of Education Teacher of the Year award.

    Read More

  • Fontana Unified to Expand Student Services by Uniting Award-Winning Continuation Schools

    Fontana Unified School District (FUSD) will strengthen and broaden academic and support services for its continuation high school students as it merges its two Model Continuation High Schools, Citrus and Eric Birch, beginning in the 2025-26 school year. Both continuation schools will consolidate under the name Eric Birch High School, relocating to the former Citrus High site at 10760 Cypress Ave., and adopting the Citrus Jaguars mascot. The FUSD Board of Education approved the merger and an estimated $150,000 cost associated with renaming the Citrus campus to Eric Birch High School during its June 18 meeting. Fontana Unified’s continuation school instruction has been recognized by the California Department of Education (CDE) for its comprehensive excellence. Both Citrus and Eric Birch earned Model Continuation School designations from the CDE for their innovative approach to alternative education, with Citrus earning the three-year status in 2023 and Eric Birch securing recognition in 2024, which extends into the 2025-26 school year.

    Read More

  • Fontana Unified to Celebrate Renaming of O’Day Short Elementary School, Honor Family’s Legacy

    Fontana Unified will host a renaming ceremony as Randall Pepper Elementary School officially transitions to O’Day Short Elementary in the 2025-26 school year, honoring the O’Day Short Family, which is remembered for breaking Fontana’s color barrier 80 years ago. District middle school student Cyrus Moss championed the renaming of O’Day Short Elementary. Moss submitted a petition with 132 signatures to rename Randall Pepper Elementary to the Fontana Unified Board of Education in March 2024. The Board unanimously voted to rename the school in September 2024 after all administrative regulations were met.

    Read More

Fontana Unified Celebrated for Financial Aid Application Completion Rate

Fontana Unified’s Jurupa Hills High School was recognized for achieving the state’s sixth-highest rate of completed student financial aid applications during the inaugural California College Affordability Summit, held in November. Jurupa Hills beat out more than 1,000 California High Schools in the Race to Submit, a statewide campaign that aims to increase the number of financial aid applications for California high school seniors.

FUSD Robotics Team to Lead Fontana Christmas Parade as Grand Marshals

Randall Pepper Elementary School’s international robotics success will be celebrated community wide at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, when robotics students, coaches and administrators serve as the grand marshals in the 2019 Fontana Christmas Parade. The Randall Pepper team was selected after representing the District and city on a world stage at the World Robot Olympiad Friendship Invitational, where they netted the International Friendship Award. The parade will be held at Sierra Avenue and Arrow Boulevard in Fontana.

Fontana Unified Robotics Team Named Grand Marshals for Fontana Christmas Parade

Randall Pepper Elementary School’s international robotics success will be celebrated community wide on Dec. 14, when robotics students, coaches and administrators serve as the grand marshals in the 2019 Fontana Christmas Parade. Randall Pepper Elementary students Heydi Pena, Mariah Torres-Osborne-Lewis, Daisy Santiago and Anthony Cuamatzi will lead the parade of floats and community groups, joined by coaches Alice Strout and Jeff Rich, Principal Dr. Annette Beasley and Assistant Principal Theresa Gomez.

Fontana Unified High School Students Seek to Take a Stand Against Hunger

Henry J. Kaiser High School sophomore Samantha Martinez sees the effects of hunger in her community and would love to establish a food pantry on campus, as well as make more community services available during summer and the holidays. Martinez was one of nearly 500 Kaiser sophomores who listened to a panel of experts on the subject of hunger on Nov. 20, as part of a Thanksgiving break project-based learning (PBL) research assignment designed to encourage students to find solutions to real-life problems.

Fontana Unified Named PBIS District of the Year

Fontana Unified on Nov. 14 was named the 2019 Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) District of the Year for the West End and East Valley regions of San Bernardino County. This District’s use of PBIS strategies to foster a positive school climate and increase student engagement was celebrated at the fourth annual PBIS Showcase, hosted by the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools’ PBIS program.

Fontana Unified School Receives IB Middle Years Programme Candidacy

Southridge Tech Middle School has been named a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP), marking a milestone in the District’s efforts to establish an IB Continuum. As a candidate school – a status achieved ahead of the District’s schedule – Southridge Tech is beginning trial implementation of the MYP and seeking authorization as an IB World School. MYP provides a rigorous, globally focused and inquiry-led framework of learning that fosters creative and critical thinking.

Fontana Unified Kicks Off 22nd Annual ‘Fontana Santas’ Toy Drive

Fontana Unified, Fontana School Police Department and community members kicked off the holiday season with the first toy donations in the 22nd annual Fontana Santas Toy Drive, which aims to bring holiday cheer to families in need. Fontana School Police Officer Cindy Evaro and district employee Lydia Wibert began Fontana Santas 22 years ago when they learned a Fontana boy ran away from home after Christmas because he did not receive any presents. Evaro, Wibert and Fontana School Police collected toys and donations from local organizations and delivered them to students during the holidays.

Fontana Unified Named PBIS District of the Year

Seventeen Fontana Unified schools were recognized at the fourth annual Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Showcase, held Nov. 14 in San Bernardino. The showcase highlighted schools that have effectively used PBIS strategies to foster a positive school climate and increase student engagement, netting platinum, gold, silver and bronze awards.