Overview
The original main school building was built in the late 1930s as a WPA project. The school opened to students on January 6, 1941.
Student population quickly outgrew the facilities, and the campus became a collection of small, outlying buildings. As concern grew over the building's safety and structural stability, plans were made for more integrated buildings and, in the summer of 2005, demolition of the old campus began. By 2007, the campus had been demolished, and the terrain was leveled in preparation for reconstruction. During the reconstruction, all classes were held in temporary buildings located south of the campus on the former baseball field. The new campus opened January 5, 2009.
El Cerrito high school’s profile of students by race is: 35.6% African-American, 23.7% Hispanic, 17.2% Asian, 16.7% Caucasian, and 2.5% Filipino. Many of these students are actually mixed race, making El Cerrito a very diverse high school. Over one third of students come from families with a low enough income to qualify for free or reduced price lunches under the National School Lunch Act. Many El Cerrito students come from the neighboring city of Richmond which is also served by the West Contra Costa Unified School District.
El Cerrito High School offers a variety of clubs in which students can participate, including American Sign Language Club, Amnesty International, Japanese Pop Culture Club, Asian Student Union, Black Student Union, Concerts 101, Illustrators' Club, Cooking Club, El Cerrito Design and Production Club, Foreign Film Club, Forensics Team, Gaucho Marching Band, Gay Straight Alliance, Green Justice, Guitar Club, Illusionist Club, Interact, Jewish Student Union, Juggling Club, Math Club, Page Turners, Science and Technology Club, South Asian Student Union, The Hiking Club, and the Web Team. It also operates the KECG radio station.
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