Sylvia Mendez Elementary

Located at 2840 Ellsworth St., in Berkeley, California, Sylvia Mendez Elementary is a small elementary campus that teaches 379 students (grades K through 5), overseen by Berkeley Unified.

Across the 17 schools in Berkeley Unified (9,116 students total), Sylvia Mendez Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, Sylvia Mendez Elementary records that Hispanic students make up the majority at 61%. The remainder is composed of 23% White, 8% multiracial, 8% Black. The wider county runs roughly 23% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Sylvia Mendez Elementary lists 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 21.1:1. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 27% of students at Sylvia Mendez Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is noticeably below Alameda County's rate of about 49%.

After controlling for student poverty, Sylvia Mendez Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 63.2%; this one delivers 66.1%.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Alameda County put the typical household earns roughly $129,367 per year, 52% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Alameda County runs 394 public schools (combined enrollment of about 210,511 students), of which Sylvia Mendez Elementary is one.

Willard Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Sylvia Mendez Elementary. On composite proficiency, Sylvia Mendez Elementary comes 5th of 7 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 63.9%.

Sylvia Mendez Elementary operates from a city-core location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Sylvia Mendez Elementary has held roughly steady, going from 381 students in 2018 to 379 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 52% to 61% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 18.8:1 in 2018 to 21.1:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.