Summary:
El Sobrante has three public schools: Murphy Elementary and Olinda Elementary, serving kindergarten through grade 6, and Betty Reid Soskin Middle, serving grades 6–8. In 2025–2026, the three schools’ average proficiency was 35% in English language arts, 30% in math, and 26% in science, below California’s 49%, 38%, and 36%, respectively. All-grade results cover different grade spans, so comparisons between schools are not always like-for-like. The clearest area-wide finding is that results vary substantially by school, rather than being uniformly strong or weak.
Olinda Elementary led all three schools in every all-grade subject, with 50% proficiency in English, 43% in math, and 33% in science. That was 24 percentage points above the other schools’ average in English, 18 points above in math, and 11 points above in science. Olinda was above the state in English and math, but below it in science. Murphy Elementary fell between the other schools in all three subjects, at 29% in English, 28% in math, and 29% in science. Betty Reid Soskin Middle had the lowest results: 25% in English, 21% in math, and 15% in science. SchoolDigger gives Olinda 3 stars and a statewide percentile rank of 62; Murphy and Betty Reid Soskin each have 1 star, with ranks of 27 and 17.
Results improved in most school-subject combinations between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, but Olinda Elementary’s math fell 4 percentage points and science fell 8, while its English result rose 3 points. Murphy Elementary and Betty Reid Soskin Middle improved in all three subjects. In grade-matched comparisons, Olinda’s English lead over Murphy was especially large in grades 4 and 6: 28 and 43 points, respectively. Other context differs too: Olinda has the highest student-teacher ratio, 22.7, and the lowest reported free/reduced lunch eligible figure, 40% in 2024–2025; Murphy’s figure was 65% and Betty’s was 55%. Olinda also had the lowest chronic absenteeism, at 29%, compared with 38% at Betty and 46% at Murphy, though all three exceeded the state rate of 18%. These figures offer useful context, not explanations for the differences in results.
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