Welcome to Victoria

Victoria Elementary is part of the Redlands Unified School District. We are located at:
1505 Richardson St.
San Bernardino, CA 92408
(909) 478-5670

Below is a bit of our history, our academic vision, and how parents and families can be involved

A Brief History

Victoria Elementary opened its doors in 1949 serving an unincorporated area of San Bernardino County. The school was surrounded mostly by orange groves and strawberry fields, with most of the homes in the area built on large lots zoned for livestock. With less than 300 students, the school started with 1 kindergarten and the original classrooms (A, B, and C wings today) housing first through 6th grades. Designed as a neighborhood school, Victoria was built without a parking lot, but instead with a park located where the parking lot is today. In the 1950s, the "D Wing" classrooms were added, a parking lot replaced that park, and the cafeteria was expanded. During this decade the library and the computer lab were added as well. Also during this decade, a baseball field was added that hosted the Vicotria Little League. At its height, the league had more than a dozen teams and was one of the few fields in the area for lighted night games. The leagued dissolved in the early 1980s. The ball field remains, but the light poles were removed. The parking area next to the field was eventually converted into what is today Victoria Park.

Over the decades, the cities of Redlands, San Bernardino, and Loma Linda grew to the point that Victoria eventually became the only Redlands Unified school located in San Bernardino. Today it serves students from Redlands, San Bernardino, and Loma Linda and its student population has nearly doubled. To accommodate the growth, portable classrooms (E and F wings) were added in the early 1980s, along with a State pre-school, special-day pre-school, and our Family Resource Center. The area economy moved away from agriculture causing the orange groves and the strawberry fields to be replaced by warehouses and light industrial facilities.

The Victoria mascot and school colors have changed over the years. At one time Victoria's mascot was the Spartans and its colors green and white. Despite research into school archives, it is unknown whether the Spartan was the original school mascot. During the early 1990s, the school community wanted a new mascot and at which time the Tiger was adopted as well as the Navy blue and white colors. The Victoria Tiger, affectionately called "Victor," has gone through several incarnations and can be found in all its forms on murals and signs throughout the school. Because of the numerous murals of our mascot, Victoria has taken on the nickname of Tiger Town. Finally, our present-day version of Victor (featured above) was designed by teacher Albert Holmon.

Victoria Today

Today Tiger Town has approximately 550 students in grades T/K through 5th, with an additional 40 students in its pre-school program. Despite its original construction in the 1940s, the school has been maintained, modernized, and improved over the years. Students and teachers have daily access to computers in the classrooms with dedicated wifi. This upgrade in the last several years rendered the computer lab obsolete, which was converted into an enrichment room for art, music, and PE. Victoria has a had a history as a diverse school and continues as such serving students from a multitude of countries from 4 different continents, with upwards of 18 different languages.

More than 90% of Victoria's students qualify for free or reduced meals. As a result, school and district personnel have gone the extra mile to foster partnerships with local non-profit organizations. As a result, the school has a robust Family Resource Center which facilitates a food and clothing bank, as well as housing a case manager from Building a Generation (BAG).  Through this partnership, a BAG case manager is located in our Family Resource Center. The case manager is available to assist families on a one-to-one basis for various services such as counseling, emergency housing, food and/or clothing, and utility assistance. BAG also offers a host of parenting classes and family activities throughout the year. To contact the Building a Generation case manager call (909) 478-5670, x62335, or via the direct line at (909) 307-2478.

Academic Vision

As evidenced by the surrounding care offered at Vicotria, the teachers and staff have long believed in educating the who child. However academic excellence has always been at the heart of Tiger Town. It has always been the expectation that students will show: 

• Critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities
• Effective communication and social skills 
• Positive self-esteem and self-discipline 
• Individual excellence and a desire for lifelong learning

To that end, teachers work and plan to provide strong initial instruction followed by differentiated lessons to provide enriching content or remediation of concepts/skills. Teachers and administrators also meet every 6 weeks to review student assessment data and plan lessons for English Language Arts and Math. Given that 34% of Victoria's students are English learners, teachers also develop designated and integrated ELD lessons.

The school also provides a robust small-group reading intervention program focused on developing fluency and comprehension. Based upon data over the past 2 years, students who participated in the program regularly have made growth in their reading with fully half reaching grade level and exiting the intervention.

In 2015, the reading intervention program was nominated at the District level for a Golden Bell award. Previous to that, Victoria won a Golden Bell award in 2007 for the academic intervention program it ran in partnership with Beattie Middle School.

Family Involvement

With deep roots as a neighborhood school, Victoria teachers and staff work to provide avenues for parents and families to be involved in the school community. Some of the activities offered to parents/guardians and families are:

• PTO
• School Site Council
• English Language Advisory Committee
• Pastries with the Principal 
• Latino Family Literacy Project
• Family Reading / Math Nights
• Parent Classes targeted toward helping students with academics
• English as a Second Language (ESL) classes
• Spring Fling Resource Fair
• Community Garden

We also have a number of parents who volunteer throughout the year in various capacities, which include in-classroom helpers, field trip chaperones, and working in our library.  Parents who wish to volunteer should contact our office manager at (909) 478-5670 for more information and to obtain the necessary forms. Families may also keep current with activities and information about Victoria by following us on Twitter @TigerTownRUSD.