Ellerhorst Elementary, Pinole CA

Original Research by School Decision on Ellerhorst Elementary

Ellerhorst Elementary sits on Pinole Valley Road in Pinole, a small, largely built-out residential city in the western corridor of Contra Costa County. The school serves kindergarten through sixth grade as a regular public school within West Contra Costa Unified, and its enrollment is modest for that grade span, with students distributed fairly evenly across all seven grades.

The student body is racially and ethnically diverse. Hispanic students make up the largest group, followed by white students, with meaningful shares of Asian and multiracial students and a smaller Black population. Close to half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this squarely in working- and mixed-income community territory. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in the records provided.

On the California statewide assessments, the most recent results show performance that lands roughly at the midpoint relative to districts in Contra Costa County, which is where the comparison data positions Ellerhorst. In English language arts, roughly half of tested students across grades three through six scored at or above proficiency. Third and fifth graders came in a bit above that mark; fourth and sixth graders came in below it. Math results follow a similar pattern but run somewhat lower overall, with third grade showing the strongest performance and fourth grade the weakest. The fifth-grade science assessment showed around two in five students reaching proficiency. Only one year of data is available, so there is no trend line to assess whether results are improving, holding, or declining. A parent who wants to understand the school's trajectory would be worth asking the school directly.

The district context matters here. West Contra Costa Unified concluded its first-ever teachers' strike in late 2025 with a two-year contract that raised pay and added family health benefits. Publicly reported accounts indicate the settlement, layered on top of an existing deficit, has pushed the district toward a serious fiscal crisis. Proposed responses include staff reductions, class-size increases, merging middle schools, and converting some K-8 schools to elementary-only configurations. It is not yet clear how those decisions will land at individual campuses, including Ellerhorst, and parents are well-advised to follow district budget proceedings closely. The district has also been shifting elementary reading instruction toward explicit phonics through a supplemental program added to its existing core curriculum, a change that affects how foundational reading is taught at schools like Ellerhorst.

Program information for Ellerhorst specifically was not available in the data provided. Civil rights data, chronic absenteeism, and attendance figures were also absent from the records.

Pinole itself is a relatively affordable entry point by Bay Area standards, though home values here remain well above national norms and recent trends show values drifting downward modestly. Rents consume a substantial share of the typical household budget at current market rates. The city is largely suburban outside its historic Old Town core along San Pablo Avenue, which offers a compact walkable district with locally owned businesses, a farmers' market, and some civic anchors. There is no BART station in the city; residents connect to the regional rail network by bus. Pinole is pursuing housing growth through state-mandated planning and has recently added affordable units for veterans and seniors. The city is substantially built out, so the character of its neighborhoods is stable, even as new density comes incrementally along major corridors.

For a family weighing Ellerhorst, the school serves a genuinely diverse community at a grade span that takes students through sixth grade. Academic results sit near the county midpoint, which means there is room for growth. The bigger uncertainty right now is the district-level fiscal and structural picture, which is fluid enough that program offerings, class sizes, and even school configurations may look different in the near term than they do today.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 34% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 30% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 23% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 27% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 30% · ▲ 23 pts above district

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

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 31% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 32% · ▲ 24 pts above district

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

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 35% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 23% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

This schoolWest Contra Costa 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-income45%Higher-income67%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income50%7 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income73%34 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income67%36 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income52%Higher-income61%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income57%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income13%Higher-income68%55 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income39%Higher-income50%11 pp gap