HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a primary school of cozy scale in STRAWBERRY, Arkansas, one of the schools within HILLCREST SCHOOL DISTRICT, caters to 263 students in grades pre-K through 6. That puts it 37% below the typical public school in Arkansas, which averages around 418 students.

Across the 2 schools in HILLCREST SCHOOL DISTRICT (442 students total), HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL shows that 95% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority; the rest looks like 4% multiracial. Compared to Lawrence County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 15.2:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 16.0:1, putting HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 84% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Lawrence County runs at roughly 74%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL sits in the top 10% of Arkansas schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 28.0%; actual is 47.8%, +19.8 points clear of the demographic baseline.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Lawrence County put the typical household earns roughly $44,882 per year, roughly 15% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 15%. Across Lawrence County's 9 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,293 students), HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is HILLCREST HIGH SCHOOL, roughly 5.0 miles away. On composite proficiency, HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL comes 1st of 8 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 28.7%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count remained close to its prior level: 257 students in 2018 compared to 263 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 12.7:1 in 2018 to 15.2:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL typically covers enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.