Martinez Schools, District by District
Three districts serve Martinez addresses. Part of town goes to high school in Pleasant Hill.
A Martinez address does not always mean Martinez schools. Part of town is in a different district, and those kids go to high school in Pleasant Hill.
That is worth knowing, but it is not bad news. College Park scores higher than Alhambra on the state tests. It is just further away.
Your zip code will not tell you which one you are in. It comes down to your street.
Published August 22, 2026
Three districts, one mailing address
Most of Martinez is Martinez Unified. But three districts reach addresses that get mail as Martinez.
- Martinez Unified covers most of the city, kindergarten through twelfth.
- Mount Diablo Unified covers about a quarter of the city, the southern and southeastern side. Virginia Hills, Hidden Lakes, and the Center Avenue and Arnold Drive corridor. Those kids go to College Park High in Pleasant Hill.
- John Swett Unified picks up a few rural properties on Christie Road, west of town.
Reliez Valley, south of town, splits between Lafayette, Martinez Unified and Mount Diablo. Which one you are in follows your postcode almost exactly: the Lafayette end of Reliez Valley Road carries Lafayette addresses and goes to Acalanes High, while the Martinez end carries Martinez ones and is Martinez Unified. So if your mail says Martinez, you are almost certainly Martinez Unified. Worth checking anyway if you are up that way.
The 94553 zip covers all of this and more. It stretches west across empty hills almost to Kensington. It is not a useful guide to anything about schools.
Martinez Unified School District
Most of Martinez, kindergarten through twelfth grade. Four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. Everyone in the district goes to Martinez Junior High and then Alhambra, so only the elementary assignment changes by address.
About 3,787 kids. District wide, 56.07% met the state English standard and 45.32% met the math one in 2024-25.
| School | Grades | Rating | English | Math |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morello Park Elementary1200 Morello Park Dr, MartinezThe strongest scores in the district. A new transitional kindergarten building broke ground here in mid 2026. | K-5 | 9/10 | 71.8% | 65.67% |
| John Swett Elementary4955 Alhambra Valley Rd, MartinezNot connected to John Swett Unified School District in Crockett, which is a different district with its own John Swett High. Both are named for the same 1800s educator. | K-5 | 8/10 | 63.94% | 55.07% |
| John Muir Elementary205 Vista Way, Martinez | K-5 | 6/10 | 51.55% | 45.79% |
| Las Juntas Elementary4105 Pacheco Blvd, MartinezThe lowest scores of the four elementary schools, about 36 points behind Morello Park in English. | K-5 | 5/10 | 35.53% | 26.79% |
| Martinez Junior High1600 Court St, MartinezEvery kid in the district comes here for middle school. Electives include instrumental music, art, drama, leadership, yearbook and video broadcasting. | 6-8 | 7/10 | 58.11% | 47.52% |
| Alhambra Senior High150 E St, MartinezThe district's only comprehensive high school, going back to 1897. AP courses, career and technical education, and a 350 seat performing arts center. Scores are for eleventh graders, the only grade tested in high school. | 9-12 | 8/10 | 51.39% | 28.11% |
The spread between the elementary schools is wide. Morello Park and Las Juntas are about 36 points apart in English, in the same district, and about half a mile from each other.
The Mount Diablo side of town
If you are in the Mount Diablo part of Martinez, your kid does not go to Alhambra. There are two routes, and both end at the same high school in another city.
Hidden Lakes, and the Center Avenue and Arnold Drive corridor
Hidden Valley Elementary, then Valley View Middle, then College Park High.
Virginia Hills
Valhalla Elementary, then Valley View Middle, then College Park High.
| School | Grades | Rating | English | Math |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hidden Valley Elementary500 Glacier Dr, MartinezThe only Mount Diablo school actually inside Martinez. It also serves Pacheco and part of Pleasant Hill. | K-5 | 7/10 | 56.81% | 53.98% |
| Valhalla Elementary530 Kiki Dr, Pleasant HillServes the Virginia Hills side of Martinez, though the school itself is in Pleasant Hill. | K-5 | 8/10 | 63.41% | 57.01% |
| Valley View Middle181 Viking Dr, Pleasant HillWhere both Mount Diablo chains meet for middle school. | 6-8 | 8/10 | 53.18% | 45.09% |
| College Park High201 Viking Dr, Pleasant HillThe high school for the Mount Diablo part of Martinez. It is in Pleasant Hill. | 9-12 | 8/10 | 61.02% | 43.88% |
On the state tests College Park comes out ahead of Alhambra, in both English and math. So this is a longer drive, not a worse school. Only Hidden Valley is actually in Martinez. Valhalla, Valley View and College Park are all in Pleasant Hill. Hidden Valley also serves Pacheco and part of Pleasant Hill, so it is not purely a Martinez school either.
Three schools you can apply to from here
Being in Mount Diablo has one thing going for it. The district runs three schools of choice, and they belong to the district rather than to a town. Any address in Mount Diablo Unified can apply, whichever town it is in — Concord, Pleasant Hill, Clayton, Bay Point, and the parts of Walnut Creek and Martinez the district covers. A Mount Diablo address in Martinez can apply to all three. A Martinez Unified address cannot — none of them takes children from outside the district.
Monte Gardens Elementary (K-5)
3841 Larkspur Dr, Concord · 562 students
A neighbourhood school and a district-wide one at the same time. Inside its boundary you are simply assigned, no application. From anywhere else in the district you apply. An International Baccalaureate school since June 2025.
Sequoia Elementary (K-5)
277 Boyd Rd, Pleasant Hill · 594 students
No attendance zone at all, so every seat comes from an application. Also an International Baccalaureate school. The district does not publish any odds for the kindergarten lottery.
Sequoia Middle School (6-8)
265 Boyd Rd, Pleasant Hill · 882 students
Runs AVID across the whole school, plus STEAM electives. Nobody is zoned here, so the whole sixth grade arrives by lottery.
The other two schools
Martinez Unified also runs a continuation high school and an independent study program. They share a site on Susana Street.
Vicente Martinez High (9-12)
A continuation high school, sharing a site with Briones.
Briones (K-12)
Independent study with an accredited diploma. Students meet a teacher an hour a week and work about 25 hours on their own. Many courses meet UC entrance requirements.
Their ratings and test scores are not in the table above on purpose. Both serve students who arrived already behind on credits, often after things went wrong somewhere else. Measuring them against a comprehensive high school does not tell you anything true about either one.
Money, and what it cost
In February 2026 the board cut about $2.5 million. The vote was unanimous. What went included a mental health counselor, a part time school counselor, a part time elementary music teacher, two special education teachers and several classroom aides, one of them bilingual.
Some things were saved. Two of the three proposed mental health counselors stayed. So did Alhambra's college and career counselor and four elementary office managers.
A month later the county gave the district a positive certification, with conditions attached. That means it is expected to meet its obligations, so there is no risk of a state takeover. But reserves are thin at about 6% and it is projected to spend more than it takes in for each of the next three years.
If the district school isn't right
Your assigned school is not the only option. There are charter schools, which are public and free but sit outside the district boundaries, so you apply instead of being assigned. And there are private schools, which cost anywhere from about $9,600 a year to over $60,000.
Alternatives to your public school district lists what exists near here, what it costs where that is published, and which listings you will find that are out of date.
Check your actual address
This is the one place where the zip code really will mislead you. Check the street address.
- The Census address lookup is the best way to find out which district you are in. It is free and federal. It tells you the district, not the school.
- Martinez Unified school finder. A map with the four elementary zones. There are no middle or high zones because there is only one of each. (925) 335-5800.
- Mount Diablo school locator. For the southern and southeastern side of town.
- John Swett Unified School District. A handful of rural properties on Christie Road, in the hills west of town. Its schools are in Crockett and Rodeo. Christie Road is not the same as Christie Drive inside the city, which is Martinez Unified. Verify by address.
One name to watch out for. John Swett Elementary is a Martinez Unified school here in town. John Swett Unified is a different district in Crockett, with its own John Swett High. They are named for the same person and are not related.
About this page
The numbers come from the districts, the state test results, and federal enrollment data. I last checked them on August 22, 2026.
Everything here is from a public source — school and district websites and their own boundary tools, the state test results, and federal enrollment data. None of it is private or insider information, and none of it is my own estimate.
Think something here is wrong? Please tell me at report@mountdiablofamilies.com and I will fix it. I would far rather hear about it than leave another parent working off a bad number.
I am not ranking these schools. Which one is right depends on your kid.
This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or speaking for any school district. Where a district’s logo appears, it is there to identify the district the page is about.