Follow-up Story: Fontana Unified will kick off 2016-17 by welcoming 350 K-3 students to its newly constructed Dolores Huerta International Academy, named for civil rights activist and labor leader Dolores Huerta, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:15 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 4 at the new school, 17777 Merrill Ave., Fontana. The campus will provide dual-language immersion and Pre-International Baccalaureate magnet programs for students in kindergarten through grade three. Grade four will be added in 2017-18 and grade five will be added in 2018-19.
Fontana Unified Schools Named to Honor Roll for High Achievement
Fontana Unified’s Dorothy Grant and Sierra Lakes elementary schools are among more than 1,700 California public schools to be named 2015 Honor Roll schools, selected for exceptional academic performance. The Honor Roll is part of a national effort to identify high-performing schools and highlight successful practices by the Educational Results Partnership and the Campaign for Business and Education Excellence.
Fontana Unified’s Board of Education on Wednesday, July 13 will consider appointing co-interim superintendents as the District prepares for the departure of Superintendent Dr. Leslie Boozer. Search firm Leadership Associates advised the Board to appoint Dr. John R. Porter, Jr., a superintendent with more than 30 years of education experience, and FUSD Associate Superintendent of Business Services Randal Bassett, who possesses nearly 20 years of management experience in the District. The pair would partner to ensure a seamless transition for Fontana Unified when Boozer departs.
Thirty-six Fontana Unified schools were honored with the Distinguished After School Health (DASH) program certificate, a new state award that recognizes programs that excel in providing health education, nutrition and physical activities for students. FUSD received the honor for programs at 29 elementary schools and seven middle schools that are on the cutting-edge of nutritional standards and which encourage healthy habits and exercise.
One hundred forty Fontana Unified parents have graduated from a financial and digital literacy course designed to give them tools to support their children’s schooling and to inspire their own continued education. Graduates of Plazas Comunitarias, a support program offered via a partnership between Fontana Unified and the Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino, celebrated their achievements at Jurupa Hills High School on May 31.
Photos are available.
Superintendent Dr. Leslie Boozer is leaving Fontana Unified to become superintendent of the Dublin Unified School District. Boozer, whose last day has not yet been determined, helmed the 40,000-student District for three years, improving the educational outcomes for students and college and career opportunities. The Board of Education is expected to interview interim superintendent candidates on Wednesday, June 29. The Board will interview companies to conduct a search for a permanent replacement on Friday, July 8.
Fontana Unified to Improve College Readiness under Proposed LCAP
Fontana Unified School District will hire new bilingual aides, develop a strategy for early education literacy and college/career readiness along with a cultural proficiency task force that will support students as part of the updated Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). A special meeting to discuss the LCAP will be held Monday, June 13. The LCAP and 2016-17 budget are expected to be adopted Wednesday, June 15.
The Association of California School Administrators’ (ACSA) Region 12 has honored four Fontana Unified administrators for individual excellence and the Fontana Leadership Intervention Program (FLIP) with its Partners in Educational Excellence Award. Sequoia Middle School Principal George Santiago, Associate Superintendent of Human Resources David Creswell, Director of Teaching and Learning Tonia Causey-Bush and Deputy Chief of Schools Shelley Holt were recognized for outstanding leadership and service to the community. FLIP, which started in 2009, coordinates with the Fontana Police Department to intervene with students exhibiting academic and behavioral issues.
Olga Pacot, a reading teacher at Fontana Unified’s Citrus Elementary School, has been named one of only six recipients of this year’s READ 180 Educator Awards for helping students improve their literacy. Pacot is known for inspiring improvement that far exceeds expectations. READ 180 is a reading intervention program that provides individualized instruction to meet each student’s reading needs and help them overcome any obstacles.
Fontana High School is among 24 schools in California – and 75 in the nation – to earn the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) Schoolwide Site of Distinction award for 2015-16, a new honor given to select AVID schools for their extensive commitment to providing students with college preparation resources. Schoolwide Site of Distinction is the highest rating a school can achieve on the AVID certification rating scale. Only 380 out of 5,000 AVID schools in the U.S. were eligible to apply for the honor. The distinction puts Fontana High’s college and career readiness program in the top 2 percent of all AVID programs in the nation.
