The El Monte City School District, a suburban school district serving children from pre-school age through the eighth grade, was founded in the 1880s. It is located eleven miles east of the City of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley. Students in the district come from the cities of El Monte, South El Monte, and portions of Los Angeles County that are proximate to the cities of Temple City and Arcadia.

The El Monte City School District serves over 12,000 children at eighteen school sites. It employs over 1,200 full and part time persons in certificated, management and classified positions. The schools are organized as K-4(1), K-5(1), K-6(10) and K-8(6) sites. There is a Children's Center located adjacent to one site and there are four Head Start programs located at elementary schools.

District demographics include families that are 78% Hispanic, 14% Asian, 7% White and less than 1% American Indian, Pacific Islander, Filipino and Black.