Ontario Montclair School District
Issue 9 Summer 2026
A publication of the UCLA Center for Community Schooling, featuring multimedia public scholarship to inform the collective struggle for democracy, justice and public education.
Established in 1884, the Ontario-Montclair School District (OMSD) serves approximately 18,000 Pre-K through 8th grade students from the cities of Ontario, Montclair, and Upland. Located in San Bernardino County, the largest county in the U.S., it spans over 20,000 square miles, and sits east of Los Angeles County. OMSD is guided by a simple but powerful motto: Our Community, Our Children, Our Commitment, Our Future.
The features in this issue demonstrate the District’s longstanding efforts to provide excellent educational opportunities in a safe, culturally-responsive, and welcoming environment. The stories in this issue remind us that community schooling is more than a grant program or an initiative; it is an approach to schooling that builds upon the unique strengths and needs of the context and community. OMSD’s story exemplifies the power of community schooling to build shared understanding and commitment, and priorities, center community-based learning, and develop strategic community partnerships to ensure sustainability beyond any single grant or program–building key Capacity-Building Strategies for creating transformational education for all students.
The School Case shares the story of Lincoln Elementary School. Honoring the school’s origin as a development center for students with severe disabilities, today Lincoln is a comprehensive PK–6 elementary school that fosters an “all means all” atmosphere. The Teacher Scholarship piece was authored by 1st grade teacher, Michelle Montesand 6th grade teacher, Lyndsey Viroal. In this feature, they outline their “Community Kindness Project”, a community-based learning unit, and its impact on their students, and the community. The Youth Voice feature is a video created by Katie Gross, Community Schools Coordinator at Bon View IB World School–another OMSD school. In the video, students share their experiences at Bon View, highlighting the importance of collaboration, integrated student supports, and collaborative leadership. Finally, the Policy ABCs feature demonstrates how OMSD is transitioning its work from isolated initiatives to an integrated, equity-centered model wherein safety, respect, support, and belonging characterize the experience of staff, students, and families.
This issue would not be possible without the team of students, teachers, administrators, and staff from OMSD who were willing to share their experiences, insights, and stories. In particular, I am grateful to Julie Baeskens, OMSD Teacher on Assignment, who served as the Issue Coordinator and played a critical role in facilitating the storytelling within this issue. Thank you also to Cara Molina, Executive Director of the OMSD Health & Wellness Services Department for supporting this issue.
Lauren Kinnard, Issue Editor
CS Journal as a Learning Tool
We aim for each issue of the Community Schooling Journal to serve as an impactful learning tool for practitioners, researchers, families, and students find it to be an impact learning tool. To this end, we’ve provided a discussion guide that spans the four features of the issue and includes discussion prompts related to the issues’s main themes.
We are grateful to engage local artists in sharing their artwork for each issue. This issue we have two artists: an OMSD staff artist, (Chris “Ryan” Cano) and a 4th grade artist (Matteo Ramirez).
Cover art was created by OMSD Webmaster/Creative Designer Chris “Ryan” Cano. Ryan shared the following, “This piece was born from an idea for the Ontario-Montclair School District website — a scene where two communities meet as one. The Montclair landmarks are the ones I grew up with, still standing 30 years later; Ontario’s newer landmarks reflect how both cities have grown since. Bringing past and future into one connected scene felt like a full-circle moment: a kid who once rode these streets, now an artist giving back to the community that shaped him. Because in the end, community isn’t the landmarks. Rather, it’s the people who help us along the way, and our chance to do the same for the next generation.”
This piece was created by OMSD 4th grader Matteo Ramirez. When asked what community meant to him, Matteo said, “To me, community means belonging. It’s having family to love you, teachers and coaches to guide you, friends to play with, and sports like soccer that connect us all together.”