Thornton is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States.

[3] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.25 square miles (3.24 km2), all land.

The racial makeup of the city was 98.6% White, 0.5% African American, and 0.9% from two or more races.

28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

29.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The new building opened in 1936 and received extra classrooms, office space, a gymnasium, and a library in a 1955 addition.

The building initially served Thornton and its associated school district only, but after it merged into Meservey–Thornton in 1963 it began serving the consolidated district's senior high school students.

High school students were moved out of the building as a result of the grade-sharing agreement between Meservey–Thornton and Sheffield–Chapin.

[14] Due to declining enrollment, the former S-C, M-T, and neighboring Rockwell–Swaledale school districts entered a whole-grade sharing agreement to become the West Fork school system in 2008, with the "Warhawks" as the new mascot.

The Thornton building closed after the 2007–08 season after 72 years of service, and all students now attend Sheffield and Rockwell.

On July 5, 2008, an all-school reunion was held to commemorate the closing of the Thornton School.

The Thornton residents held a celebratory farewell parade at that time.

The Thornton school was demolished in 2012 by the Dumont company Peterson Backhoe; the SCMT district chose demolition after a tentative agreement for another party to buy the building fell through in 2009.