Ruth Grimes Elementary, Bloomington CA

Original Research by School Decision on Ruth Grimes Elementary

Ruth Grimes Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Bloomington, an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County's Inland Empire. It is part of Colton Joint Unified School District.

Bloomington is a place in transition. The community blends residential areas of large-lot homes where some families keep horses, contemporary single-family subdivisions, and mobile home parks, alongside heavy industrial growth. Major logistics employers, including Amazon and FedEx facilities, cluster along Interstate 10 and Cactus Avenue. Housing costs here are lower than elsewhere in California, making it an accessible market for working families, though a major warehouse development project has brought contested land rezoning and ongoing litigation. Ayala Park and the Bloomington Branch Library have become civic anchors following recent construction. On-demand microtransit through Omnitrans serves the area.

The school enrollment is small to mid-sized for an elementary school, with a student body that is predominantly Hispanic. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic reality of the families the school serves. Data on the school's English learner or special education populations were not available.

On state testing, Ruth Grimes shows mixed performance. In English language arts, students in grades four and six reach proficiency at a rate just above half, while grades three and five fall below that level. In mathematics, performance is lower across all grades, ranging from below half in grades three and four down to around a third in grades five and six. Science testing was conducted only in grade five, where proficiency was notably low. Across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency sits in the top quartile relative to other school sites in San Bernardino County, an important context: this positioning reflects the broader county landscape, where many schools face similar or greater headwinds.

The school has only one year of state assessment data, so trend information and year-over-year change cannot be determined. A parent may want to look into what the school's prior years of results showed and what interventions or instructional changes are underway.

Colton Joint Unified authorized a major school facilities bond in November 2024, the district's first new bond in over two decades. Many of the district's neighborhood schools, including those serving Ruth Grimes' age groups, are decades old and in need of repairs and upgrades. The bond funds modernization work, removes environmental hazards, and adds new instructional spaces. For homeowners, this represents a new property-tax levy that will remain in effect for the life of the bonds.

Ruth Grimes offers the core elementary curriculum. Program-specific offerings beyond standard grade-level instruction were not available in the data provided. The school's website, if it maintains one, was not located. A parent seeking details on special programs, intervention services, or enrichment options would need to contact the school directly.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 348%

School 48% · District 31% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 26% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 16% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 22% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 32% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 34% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 33% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 36% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 17% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

This schoolColton Joint Unified, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income46%Higher-income33%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income46%Higher-income91%45 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income48%Higher-income50%2 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income37%Higher-income55%17 pp gap