Case Study: Fontana Unified School District doubles college-going rate to over 50% with PowerSchool's Naviance

Fontana USD Doubles Percentage of College-Going Students with Naviance

Fontana Unified School District (California) serves 37,000 students across 46 schools. When Dr. Vernell Deslonde arrived, only 24% of graduates pursued college and the district’s graduation rate hovered around 80%; many students left high school without a postsecondary plan and families lacked information about college access and financing.

FUSD implemented PowerSchool’s Unified Classroom® Naviance as a one‑stop college, career, and life readiness platform—bringing together career and college search tools, self‑discovery assessments, course planning, and scholarship/financial aid resources starting in middle school. As a result, graduation rates climbed to nearly 100%, the college‑going rate rose to over 50%, the district earned state recognition for high FAFSA/California Dream Act completion (Jurupa Hills High achieved 90.4% completion), and the community reported a growing college‑going culture.

Fontana Unified School District

Vernell Deslonde

Fontana Unified School District