El Cerrito Senior High School

Ms. Crespo has created an atmosphere that will drive away many families whom she perceives as privileged and entitled (mainly people that complain about things that are dysfunctional at the administration level).

My kid is applying to a multitude of colleges and she'll do fine at probably any one of them (she's hoping for a UC). She has challenged herself with AP courses and pulled in good grades. School is school... perhaps she would have excelled even better in a private or high end school or perhaps not. It's hard to know. Perhaps she would have felt like she was a failure due to the over the top competition. Overall, she's done great at ECHS and feels incredibly good about herself and her abilities. She has a bright future ahead for herself and ECHS has helped prepare her academically and socially for that future.

My daughter was in private schools until her freshman year and has matured immensely with the diverse and challenging atmosphere. She's learned to carry herself with confidence and is enjoying the academic challenges with her AP and Honors classes. She's plugged into sports and band and both communities are supportive and caring. The kids who are committed to academics soar at this school. NOTE: this site has old, outdated information, particularly with regard to test scores and student body racial makeup.

Student here! I'm not a big fan of El Cerrito for a majority of reasons, though there are some things that I can appreciate at this school. The student diversity is appreciated, and there are spaces for students to get on-campus counseling, however there are so many kids that actually need counseling that it's sometimes hard to get in contact with counselors, though I don't fault either of them. The school has gotten class schedules mixed up before ( adding / removing classes a week after the semester starts ) and some kids even have trouble talking with some of their teachers because of prior bad experiences with teachers, anxiety or lack of energy / willingness / ability to work due to a number of reasons.