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.
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.
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.
A school year filled with prestigious recognitions continued for Wayne Ruble Middle School math and computer science teacher Zahra Razi, who recently earned two national honors for creating transformational learning environments and enriching students’ understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Razi was named one of the International Society for Technology in Education and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ISTE+ASCD) 20 to Watch Award recipients, making her one of just 20 early-career educators worldwide recognized for innovation and impact. She was also selected as a Generation AI Luminary, one of 10 educators nationwide honored for advancing AI-powered instruction and ethical technology use. Razi is the only educator in the country to be selected for both awards this year.
Fontana Unified will start the 2025-26 school year, welcoming more than 30,000 students back to campus on Wednesday, Aug. 6. The new academic year marks the beginning of a new era for O’Day Short Elementary School – previously known as Randall Pepper Elementary – as it officially opens under its new name in honor of the O’Day Short Family, which is remembered for breaking Fontana’s color barrier 80 years ago.
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.
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.
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.
From classroom simulations to real-world takeoffs, A.B. Miller High School’s career technical education (CTE) aviation program continues to soar, as students work toward earning their pilot’s licenses, complete major flight training milestones, and launch careers in the aerospace industry. Senior Jesse Cuba is set to earn his private pilot license this summer after completing a major milestone: his first solo flight. Cuba would be the fourth A.B. Miller student in the last three years to secure a private pilot license the summer of their senior year. The A.B. Miller aviation program is a two-year course offering pathways to several rewarding careers in aerospace. It serves as a flight training school and includes a pilot training class, an airline mechanic class, and a flight simulator lab.
Six Fontana Unified School District elementary and middle school students are preparing to showcase their teamwork, coding, and critical thinking skills on a world stage at the 2025 World Robot Olympiad Open Championships to be held in Panama this October. Mango Elementary School’s Luis P. and Roman H., West Randall Elementary’s Joey Santana, and Wayne Ruble Middle School’s Flora F., Angel F., and Ivanna V. all qualified to represent Team USA Robotics and the United States Engineering League (USEL) at the World Robot Olympiad. They will compete in the challenge-based “RoboMission” category in the elementary and junior divisions, respectively.
