O'DAY SHORT

O'Day Short Elementary School will welcome representatives from the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) on the school's last day before summer break for a special assembly celebrating efforts to preserve and share the legacy of the O'Day Short family, who is remembered for breaking Fontana's color barrier 80 years ago. During the visit, EJI representatives will address students and staff, tour the campus, and donate books to the school library. The event will also feature the premiere of a newly completed short documentary highlighting the O'Day Short legacy. Cyrus Moss, the Fontana Unified student who helped lead the renaming effort, will also attend and meet with EJI representatives.

Thursday, May 28 — 8 to 9 a.m.

O'Day Short Elementary School
16613 Randall Ave., Fontana

O'Day Short Elementary School held its official renaming ceremony at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, marking the transition from Randall Pepper Elementary to a campus name honoring the O'Day Short family. The O'Day Short family purchased and built a home on a five-acre lot at Randall and Pepper avenues in Fontana at a time when African Americans were forbidden to live south of Baseline Avenue. The family received threats of violence before their house was set ablaze on Dec. 16, 1945. All four members of the family died from injuries sustained in the fire, which was later determined to be caused by arson. The Fontana Unified Board of Education unanimously voted in September 2024 to rename Randall Pepper Elementary to O'Day Short Elementary after Cyrus Moss submitted a petition with 132 signatures in March 2024.