The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Science. The lowest is 41% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Ballington Acad for the Arts and Scis - San Bernardino
Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences in San Bernardino is a small charter school serving kindergarten through fifth grade, with enrollment concentrated at the lower end of the elementary range. The school draws nearly all of its students from low-income families, with a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, along with a substantial Black student population. This is a school shaped by both its intentional pedagogical commitment to arts and sciences and by the economic profile of the families it serves.
The school has deliberately built its identity around STEAM instruction, project-based learning, and expanded daily classes in music, visual arts, science, and technology, aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. This represents a lasting shift in curriculum and daily classroom experience. The school has also recently adopted the AVID Elementary program, which teaches study skills and organizational strategies, alongside a stated emphasis on college and career readiness and academic support. These moves signal an institutional acknowledgment that the academic floor needs to rise.
On state testing, the data reveals a school with pronounced variability across grades. In English language arts, fifth-grade proficiency is very high, but third- and fourth-grade results are substantially lower. Math shows a more dramatic dip in fourth grade before recovering sharply in fifth grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits at a moderate level. Overall, across all tested grades and subjects, the school's proficiency index places it in the top quartile among the county's districts, a position that reflects the strength of the upper-elementary grades even as it masks the struggle in the middle grades.
The gap between grades three and four and the rebound in grade five is striking enough that a parent may want to ask the school directly about what accounts for it. Whether it reflects curriculum sequencing, staffing, or student population shifts, the pattern matters for families with children at that transition point.
San Bernardino itself is the largest city by population in the largest U.S. county. The area is economically mixed, with downtown and residential neighborhoods undergoing investment and redevelopment, including new mixed-use housing and retail growth. The housing market is modestly valued compared to the state benchmark. The school is located on the city's East Rialto Avenue, in a part of San Bernardino that includes both residential and commercial corridors.
The school is small enough that classroom experience tends to be more personal, but large enough to sustain multiple grade levels and program offerings. The STEAM and arts focus will appeal to families drawn to hands-on, creative learning. The recent curricular and support expansions suggest the school is responding to student need, though families should understand that proficiency in the elementary middle grades remains below statewide levels, and that the school's theory of change depends on the new supports taking hold. This is a school in active pedagogical transition, not a stabilized high-performer.
See more original research from School Decision →