The top reported proficiency rate is 35% in English language arts. The lowest is 22% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Franklin Elementary
Franklin Elementary sits on East Colton Avenue in Redlands, a city in San Bernardino County where historic citrus-era architecture, a walkable downtown, and a mix of established neighborhoods give the place a distinctly rooted character. The school is a regular public elementary serving kindergarten through fifth grade within Redlands Unified School District. It draws a large student body for its grade band, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across grades.
The student population is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of white, Black, and multiracial students. A very substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning this is a school serving a high-poverty population by California standards. Data on English learner rates and special education identification were not reported in what we reviewed, so parents interested in those support structures should ask the school directly.
On the California statewide assessments, proficiency rates across third, fourth, and fifth grades fall in a range that places the school's overall proficiency index just below the midpoint among the districts in San Bernardino County used for comparison. In English language arts, roughly a third of tested students across grades scored at the proficient level. Math results are somewhat lower, with fifth grade coming in at the weaker end of the school's tested grades. Science scores for fifth graders follow a similar pattern. These are honest gaps. A parent whose child is on grade level or above may want to ask how the school differentiates instruction; a parent whose child is still developing foundational literacy or numeracy skills may want to understand what intervention programs are in place. Only one year of assessment data is available, so trend direction cannot be assessed.
Because Franklin serves only kindergarten through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate and no AP or career pathway data to report; those do not apply at this school level.
The district context matters for families settling in Redlands. Voters approved a general obligation bond in late 2024 for campus safety and facility modernization across the district, including secure entries, HVAC, and roofing work, funded through a property tax assessed on homeowners. That is a real cost to weigh alongside housing prices, which in this zip code sit well above the national median and have seen modest year-over-year appreciation, though they remain meaningfully below the California statewide median. Rents have risen faster than home values in recent months. The rent-to-income ratio lands at a level many financial advisors would call stretched, and the estimated monthly mortgage commitment is substantial, making the housing market here a real factor in any family's calculus.
At the district level, publicly reported coverage notes that the school board passed, on divided votes in 2025, a library materials policy enabling book removal during formal challenges, acted on that policy to remove one title from high school libraries and restrict another, and adopted a flag display policy limiting schools to the U.S. and California flags. These decisions reflect a particular direction on parental-rights and content questions that families on either side of those debates will want to weigh before enrolling.
Redlands itself offers genuine civic amenities: the A.K. Smiley Public Library and its adjacent Lincoln Memorial Shrine and Redlands Bowl amphitheater, a downtown that functions as a real commercial and cultural center, and the Arrow commuter rail line connecting to San Bernardino and onward toward Los Angeles. Development is active but historically constrained by slow-growth policies; rezoning in 2025 and several large apartment projects in the pipeline suggest the city's residential landscape will shift over the coming years.
Program information for Franklin Elementary was not available in what we reviewed, so the specific enrichment offerings, after-school programming, or support structures at this campus are a gap a parent should close directly with the school.
See more original research from School Decision →