Samuel W. Simpson Elementary: Scores climb 2.5 points from grade 3 to grade 5. But the zoned next school scores lower.
Samuel W. Simpson holds its own. Scores drop at the schools it feeds into. Ask where its graduates actually enrol, and whether families stay on the zoned path.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 66 | 30% | 58% | +2.5 | 14.7% | 1.5% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Samuel W. Simpson Elementary scores 66 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 89th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
💪 Strong All-Around — Ask about what we don't score — class size, electives, the feel of a classroom — strong numbers everywhere on paper don't mean every classroom feels the same.
Most rating sites would stop at “58% proficient” and call it done. Samuel W. Simpson deserves a closer read. The school sits in Rialto, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Samuel W. Simpson's low-income kids hit 62.0% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Climbed from the 68th to the 89th percentile since 2019 — past roughly 1100 elementary schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 58% of students meet the standard today, above the 50% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 43% | 33% | 32% | 49% | 56% |
| Grade 4 | 65% | 50% | 67% | 57% | 73% |
| Grade 5 | 63% | 47% | 65% | 78% | 71% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 43% | 33% | 29% | 46% | 49% |
| Grade 4 | 63% | 42% | 63% | 50% | 61% |
| Grade 5 | 23% | 22% | 34% | 48% | 38% |
The story this school is actually telling
separates this year's grade 3 from its grade 5. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Following the same students from 2023 G3 → 2025 G5 points the same way.
the zoned path continues to Rialto Middle, which scores 30 points lower — worth asking about on a tour.
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding rises 11.6pp across grades; the floor rises 15.3pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Samuel W. Simpson's most underrated number
62.0% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask which schools families here actually choose next — the zoned path is only the default.
- Ask how teachers track each child's growth over the year, not just where the class lands on test day.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- Ask which schools families here actually choose next — the zoned path is only the default.
- Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
- Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
- Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
How every group of students does here
At Samuel W. Simpson Elementary in Rialto, 62.0% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 39.4% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Samuel W. Simpson Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 22.6 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (45.6% Math proficient); Hispanic students (65.8% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 21.1 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 245 students tested.
7 of 13 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
Change in proficiency from the lowest tested grade — which groups gain ground the longer they stay. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 13.5pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +6.5pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly one and a half times the rate of Grades 4–6 students (22.6% vs 14.1%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the earliest grades — worth asking how the school works with new families on attendance.
Where the path goes
The zoned path continues to Rialto Middle, which scores 30 points lower than this school — worth weighing alongside everything above. Families here often look at charter or magnet options for middle school.
Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
These measure different things: this figure is spending attributed to this campus, while district-wide figures also include central administration, districtwide programs, and the state's pension contributions made on the district's behalf — costs that never get assigned to a single school. The district number runs higher at nearly every school, not just this one.
$1,680 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 44% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Samuel W. Simpson Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Samuel W. Simpson Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Samuel W. Simpson Elementary rank in California?
Is Samuel W. Simpson Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Samuel W. Simpson Elementary?
How does Samuel W. Simpson Elementary compare to other schools in Rialto?
How does Samuel W. Simpson Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 45
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 38
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 99 | 27% | 28% | 24% | 20% | 56% | +12 |
| Grade 4 | 95 | 45% | 27% | 15% | 13% | 73% | +28 |
| Grade 5 | 103 | 39% | 32% | 15% | 15% | 71% | +23 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 101 | 25% | 24% | 26% | 26% | 49% | +3 |
| Grade 4 | 96 | 27% | 34% | 29% | 9% | 61% | +20 |
| Grade 5 | 105 | 19% | 19% | 24% | 38% | 38% | +3 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 105 | 21% | 23% | 51% | 5% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 245 | 62.0% | +23 | +24 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 275 | 65.8% | +23 | +27 |
| English Learners | 55 | 45.5% | +33 | +35 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel W. Simpson Elementary ← | — | 66 | 30.4% | 57.9% | +2.5 | 1.5% |
| Dolores Huerta International Academy | 2.3 mi | 49 | 13.0% | 35.1% | +19.3 | 0.6% |
| Locust Elementary | 3.1 mi | 43 | 10.8% | 29.1% | +24.9 | 0.4% |
| Dr. Ernest Garcia Elementary | 1.8 mi | 42 | 13.0% | 36.1% | +4.9 | 0.4% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 51 | 68 | #1778 | 23.6% | 50.0% | 13.0% | 0.8% | -0.1pp |
| 2022 | 40 | 59 | #2365 | 18.9% | 37.8% | 46.9% | 1.3% | +1.3pp |
| 2023 | 54 | 78 | #1284 | 24.9% | 48.4% | 34.7% | 3.2% | +18.8pp |
| 2024 | 70 | 91 | #489 | 28.2% | 54.9% | 18.9% | 1.9% | +15.8pp |
| 2025 | 66 | 89 | #647 | 30.4% | 57.9% | 14.7% | 1.5% | +2.5pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 12.6% | 14.5% | +1.9pp |
| Male | 13.4% | 14.8% | +1.4pp |
| Black/African American | 32.6% | 17.2% | -15.4pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 11.2% | 14.6% | +3.4pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 18.7% | 27.0% | +8.3pp |
| English Learners | 10.0% | 12.8% | +2.8pp |
| Foster Youth | 20.0% | — | — |
| Homeless | 25.0% | 22.4% | -2.6pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 14.0% | 16.1% | +2.1pp |
| All Students | 13.0% | 14.5% | +1.5pp |
SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction