Ellerhorst Elementary School

3501 Pinole Valley Road

School District

West Contra Costa Unified
Grade

K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:20
Type

public

School Map for West Contra Costa Unified School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on May 01, 2023

This school is the center of a wonderful community. The events constructed by the PTA and the Dad's Club are frequent and bring the students and adults together. My kids love Ellerhorst as well.
Submitted by parent on August 13, 2022

Wonderful school with a deeply connected community, incredible teachers and a beautiful campus. Distance learning was rough, but being back in person reminded us of how lucky we are to go to this fabulous place!
Submitted by parent on December 06, 2020

My son and my daughter both love Ellerhorst, it has a wonderful community feel and is a school that works very hard to nurture and care for all aspects of student's lives, even through distance learning. They are hosting virtual recesses and Lego clubs on Fridays via Zoom, the school psychologist is making regular guest appearances in their zoom classes to talk about social-emotional learning, their amazing teachers have set up multiple opportunities to pick up art supplies to do art projects together, there have been virtual field trips, and even an upcoming (optional) holiday bedtime story zoom for my 1st grader. The student council set up socially distanced drive through events for Kindergarten graduation, Halloween and the annual food drive, and others, and the principal is very available and responsive. He hosts a regular zoom coffee chat for parents who want to stop by. One bonus from my view is that the principal also has two children who attend Ellerhorst, so he really has some skin in the game! The ladies in the office are super kind and welcoming, and there is plenty of support for kids who need it. We are looking forward to when it will be safe to be together with our Ellerhorst family in person again, but until then they are doing a great job with the incredible challenges of distance learning.
Submitted by parent on March 29, 2018

Great school. My kid has seen big improvements in her reading test scores on the Star reading test, so I'm not too worried about the overall test scores. Teachers have been wonderful, principal is great, and the PTA packs the schedule with a ridiculous amount of fun activities. Solid after school program run by the Boys and Girls club, and a huge array of after school enrichment programs, including chess, Lego, cooking, dance, and martial arts. Really a hidden gem of a school!
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2017

My son attends this school and it is his second year and we love the sense of community everyone has here, and how very involved the parents are with their children and school.
Submitted by parent on February 02, 2017

I have two kids in this school, we all love this school.
Submitted by parent on June 23, 2016

Excellent teachers, great staff, an an excellent principal. Parent involvement at this school is extremely high with an active PTA and Dads Club.
Submitted by other on June 06, 2015

Worst Principal! Has no backbone. When issues arise he has no idea how to follow through. Pays attention to the bad population and let's the people that thrive in learning and in making it a better school unknown, uncredited. He has never said good job to his best students, teachers, volunteers. Awful. He is an "i" type. Has no clue in school policies. It's too bad because this could be a great school.
Submitted by parent on March 11, 2015

Ellerhorst Elementary school is full of wonderful parents, students and staff. It is a beautiful learning environment for our children, It is thanks to the amazing work of our teachers and principal that made it all possible. It has gotten even better in the last year.
Submitted by parent on March 10, 2015

I am just thrilled with the new principle at Ellerhorst. I would never have guessed what a difference a principle can make. I was considering leaving for a charter school but have decided to stay after seeing his commitment to the school this year.
Submitted by parent on March 10, 2015

Ellerhorst Elementary is a great school. Although this site says that their API rating is 799 the are actually rated by the state at 804. I checked. My son and daughter attend kindergarten and second grade and it has been an excellent experience. The Principal, Mr. Carr, genuinely cares and is working very hard at making this an exceptional school. He constantly demonstrates how much he cares and how important a great education is for our kids. The school has a very active PTA and a Dad's club that is constantly doing improvement projects, movie nights and numerous other events to further enrich the experience for our children. My son and daughter enjoy going to this school and I can see in their progress and substantial homework that Ellerhorst is providing a solid foundation for them to build on for the rest of their lives!
Submitted by parent on March 09, 2015

My oldest has been at Ellerhorst K-5 and my youngest K-2. We are moving so won't be there next year. The principal, Mr. Carr, is so great, really nice with the kids and parents, and not stressed and about to burn out like what is common for this job! The only reason I give it 4 instead of 5 is because there isn't an after-school program. I know Mr.Carr is working on that though because he would like to see it happen. Ellerhorst has an amazing PTA. Two of the cool things they fund are a bus to Sacramento for 4th graders, and the 5th grade Mission to Mars field trip. There are always interesting projects going on at Ellerhorst because the teachers are very creative and excellent at getting grants! Like the giant map that the 5th/6th graders teach to the younger kids; hatching live trout; organic garden; class pets; pen pal programs; plays; musicals; talent show; assemblies; learning folk dances; and lots more. It's a great school!!!
Submitted by parent on November 11, 2014

My kids are in 1st & 3rd grade at Ellerhorst. This is their first year there. Their previous schools were rated at 10 out of 10 on greatschools.org. Personally, I think Ellershorst deserves at 10! The new principal (Mr. Carr) is exceptional and has a phenomenal rapport with the kids. He warmly greets parents everyday during drop-off/pick-up. My favorite part of Ellerhorst is drop-off/pick-up. The norm for this school is: parents park their cars along the sidewalk outside the school's fence and walk their kids in. I'm part of the PTA which is super organized - parents there are committed to serving Ellerhorst. My husband is part of the Dad's Club - amazing dads eager to help with whatever is needed. The ladies at the front office are patient with parents & super helpful. My kids' teachers are exceptional - gifted at what they do. They welcome parent involvement & are sensitive to their students' needs. They are excellent leaders in their classrooms. The school's play yard faces a big hill full of trees - so beautiful. Beats a congested city-view of skyscrapers or a busy intersection. Ellerhorst is an excellent school! No complaints here.
Submitted by parent on October 28, 2014

It's a great school they have a lot of parent involvement grade teachers great principle
Submitted by parent on October 20, 2014

My son started Kindergarten this year and we both really enjoy our experience at Ellerhorst. The newest principal, Mr. Carr, started in Aug/Sep 2014 and is very accessible and approachable. I called with a concern and he acted promptly with a solution. He also stands in front of the school each morning to greet students and parents, at which time he will answer any questions or concerns. There is a PTA, as well as a Dad's Club so parent involvement is high. Another thing we enjoy are the family activities. They school has family movie night, holiday festivities, and other events. His teacher ensures reading and writing at a high level, and I've seen his growth in just a couple of months. Parking and car access is very limited and too small for the size of students, but that's the least of my worries. So far, I'm very happy with the school and the education my son is receiving.
Submitted by parent on April 10, 2014

The new principal lacks understanding for special needs students. This school has 3 self contained special education classes and 1 resource program. The principal struggles to understand these students. Considering the amount of special needs students at this school the district should have provided a principal with more background in special education. There are several areas she needs to improve on. In general the principal is new and overwhelmed. She seems there to serve the district needs and not always the schools needs. Should would better serve a different school with different demographics. The PTA is fabulous. The teachers are fabulous. They hold the school together. On a side note the principal released one of the best teachers on campus. (a special ed teacher) No one knows why. The teacher is wonderful and now another school will get her and love her.
Submitted by parent on March 17, 2014

I love this school. There are a lot of parents that put a lot of their own time to volunteer and participate in the school.
Submitted by parent on February 09, 2014

The 4 th grade teacher is amazing! She has a unique approach to conflict resolution which helps these kids at this very impressionable age. Since moving to this school my daughter has improved in her academics and I just can't say enough good things. The Principal engages with all of the children and she gets to know them. Im so we made the choice to move! Great school!!!
Submitted by parent on October 27, 2013

Ellerhorst has a new principal this year. She seems overwhelmed. Her interaction with staff, parents, and students is not what it was with the former principal. I agree that the RSP teacher should be meeting with students more often. I have had many parents come to me wishing the old principal was back because of her involvement in the school. Halloween wasnot the same without her.
Submitted by parent on October 02, 2013

I'd like to say that as of this year 2013 a great new principle has taken charge. She is very respondent to students and families. The school had wonderful parent involvement, which benefits because of the lack of school funding in this area. Unfortunately, the learning center teacher (Ms. Shea) is horrible. If you have a student in her class, make sure to keep up on what your child is doing (or not doing for that matter) I'm hoping they rid of this bad apple so children falling behind will actually excel.