Bloomingdale Elementary School, Savannah GA

Original Research by School Decision on Bloomingdale Elementary School

Bloomingdale Elementary serves pre-K through fifth grade in Savannah, a mid-sized historic coastal city experiencing rapid regional growth. The school has a substantial student body drawing from neighborhoods across Savannah and western Chatham County. The demographic makeup reflects the broader Savannah area: a large share of White students, along with meaningful populations of Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing economic need as a defining feature of the student body.

The school's state test results present a clear challenge. Across tested grades in reading and mathematics, proficiency rates run in the low-to-mid range. Third-grade reading proficiency is below the midpoint compared to other early elementary years, while fourth-grade reading is somewhat higher. Mathematics proficiency is consistently below fourth-grade reading across all tested grades. Fifth-grade science proficiency is notably higher than reading and mathematics in that same grade, showing uneven performance across subjects. The data spans only the most recent school year, so year-to-year trend information is not available.

The location sits at an inflection point in the district's long-range planning. Savannah-Chatham County schools publicly adopted a facilities plan that will reshape Bloomingdale's role beginning in the 2028-29 school year. The school will transition from its current pre-K-5 model to serve grades 2 through 8, as the district builds new schools to absorb western Chatham County's explosive population growth. Separately, a new Early Learning Center in the Pooler area will absorb the pre-K and kindergarten students currently at Bloomingdale. This restructuring reflects the district's response to development and overcrowding in growing suburbs while managing underutilization elsewhere.

A parent considering Bloomingdale should be aware that the school is mid-transition. The current grades, curriculum, and peer groups will shift in a few years. The district has also rolled out a new literacy framework across all elementary schools, aligning instruction to the Science of Reading and adopting new core materials (HMH's Into Reading), which changes how reading is taught in every classroom. This district-wide pedagogy shift is now in place at Bloomingdale.

The immediate neighborhood is Savannah proper, a place of walkable historic squares, riverfront commerce, and sustained in-migration. Housing values in the Savannah area are moderate relative to national benchmarks, and rental costs have declined modestly. The region's major employers span aerospace, port logistics, the military, and increasingly electric vehicle manufacturing, creating varied economic opportunity. The school district just secured voter approval of a continuing sales tax for capital projects, funding a new high school and K-8 campus in the fast-growing west, along with rebuilds and renovations across the system. That infrastructure momentum may affect school quality and community conditions over time.

A parent looking at Bloomingdale may want to discuss the school's current curriculum resources and reading instruction support directly with school staff, understand how the transition to grades 2-8 will unfold, and consider whether the current grades and enrollment pattern align with their child's timing.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 34% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 42% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 29% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 26% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 32% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 33% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 35% · ▲ 5 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Social studies

Grades 3-880%

School 80% · district not reported

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

This schoolSavannah-Chatham County, 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

Grades 3-8Lower-income39%Higher-income58%19 pp gap

Mathematics

Grades 3-8Lower-income34%Higher-income50%16 pp gap