Monte Gardens Elementary, Concord CA

Original Research by School Decision on Monte Gardens Elementary

Monte Gardens Elementary is a school of moderate size serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Concord, a large, diverse, middle-class commercial and residential hub in central Contra Costa County. The school enrolls a balanced student body with representation across Asian, Hispanic, white, and multiracial households, with a smaller share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch than many schools in the region.

In state assessments from the most recent school year, Monte Gardens shows a mixed academic picture. In English language arts, students performed at a respectable level, with proficiency highest in third grade and strong in fifth grade, and fourth grade slightly lower. In math, proficiency falls below English language arts across all tested grades, with the strongest results in third grade and declining trends in fourth and fifth. Science proficiency in fifth grade fell below both subjects. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it above the midpoint among elementary schools in Contra Costa County, though the gap between English and math performance is notable and worth understanding better through direct conversation with the school about instructional priorities and student support in mathematics.

The school sits in Concord's suburban landscape, part of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. The city itself is anchored by Todos Santos Plaza, a downtown gathering point with farmers markets and concerts, and benefits from two BART stations and a sprawling park system. Housing in the area is moderate to upper-middle in cost, with home values reflecting a stable market and rents running slightly above the national average. The city is pursuing downtown revitalization and faces a major long-term development project at the former Naval Weapons Station, though families should expect this growth to unfold over many years with infrastructure and first construction not anticipated until around 2030.

At the district level, the school's parent district recently restructured career and technical offerings at the high school, converting a long-standing academy model into student-selected pathway electives, and has adopted expanded arts funding following California's 2022 Proposition 28. These changes shape the broader academic experience students encounter as they advance.

No data on staffing, attendance, special education enrollment, English learner identification, or discipline were available for this school, so a parent may want to look into those areas directly with the school to understand support systems and class environment more fully. State testing data for this school covers only the most recent year, so longer-term trends are not yet visible.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 46% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 44% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 37% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 45% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 47% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 562%

School 62% · District 48% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 34% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

This schoolMt. Diablo Unified, 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

Grade 3Lower-income56%Higher-income70%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income56%9 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income48%Higher-income75%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income47%Higher-income65%19 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income54%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income26%Higher-income63%36 pp gap