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What's the best and worst thing about the food at Hilltop Middle?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
866
Middle
DISTRICT 880 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SWEETWATER UNION HIGH·NCES 063864006483
Hilltop Middle
44 East J St., Chula Vista, CA 91910 · (619) 498-2700 · San Diego County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL866 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 13% of California public middle schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- DThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public middle schools
Student : Teacher
22.3:1
39 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 22.2:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
52%
452 students
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 426 | 49% |
| Grade 8 | 440 | 51% |
Student demographics
27%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
37.5%
CA avg 49.1% . +0.5pp since 2014
Math
20.3%
CA avg 37.7% . -4.7pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 38 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2014, while math scores are down about 5 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 8.0% | 29.6% | 31.4% | 31.1% |
| Math | 6.5% | 13.8% | 30.1% | 49.6% |
Share of tested students at each CAASPP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
CAASPP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 37.5% | 20.3% |
| 2023-24 | 37.6% | 19.0% |
| 2022-23 | 39.9% | 19.4% |
| 2021-22 | 42.9% | 19.1% |
| 2020-21 | 40.7% | 27.3% |
| 2018-19 | 46.1% | 23.3% |
| 2017-18 | 41.3% | 19.9% |
| 2016-17 | 39.9% | 20.7% |
| 2015-16 | 45.0% | 25.0% |
| 2014-15 | 37.0% | 25.0% |
% met or exceeded standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CAASPP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of CA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
28.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.0%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-20.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 49% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Hilltop Middle
Hilltop Middle's state test result (28.6% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hilltop Middle this school | 866 | 52.2% | 28.6% |
| South Valley Middle Gilroy | 784 | 55.6% | 29.8% |
| Granada Middle Whittier | 989 | 55.2% | 59.2% |
| Frank M. Wright Middle Imperial | 1,116 | 54.7% | 41.1% |
| Chula Vista Middle Chula Vista | 678 | 59.3% | 26.0% |
| San Marcos Middle San Marcos | 968 | 58.7% | 36.3% |
Matched among California middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Hilltop Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In San Diego County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 28.6% | #781 of 1,224 | #64 of 92 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 20.3% | #855 of 1,227 ▼ 32 | #67 of 92 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 37.5% | #780 of 1,227 ▼ 66 | #63 of 92 ▼ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -2.1pp | #197 of 1,214 | #22 of 91 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 866 | #344 of 1,377 | #27 of 104 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 22.3:1 | #864 of 1,279 | #69 of 100 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 26.7% | #982 of 1,278 | #86 of 100 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 52.2% | #922 of 1,329 | #55 of 102 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -13.8% | #543 of 930 | #49 of 73 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
866
-48 (-5%) vs 2020
-44% since 1990-91, when it was 1,554
Student : Teacher
22.3:1
was 23.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 866 | 38.8 | 22.3:1 | 52% (452) |
| 2023-24 | 885 | 39.3 | 22.5:1 | 54% (475) |
| 2022-23 | 869 | 34.3 | 25.4:1 | 71% (613) |
| 2020-21 | 914 | 39 | 23.4:1 | 62% (571) |
| 2017-18 | 1,005 | 42 | 23.9:1 | 75% (751) |
| 2015-16 | 1,025 | 39 | 26.3:1 | 65% (664) |
| 2010-11 | 1,129 | N/A | N/A | 57% (649) |
| 2000-01 | 1,258 | 57 | 22.1:1 | 41% (513) |
| 1990-91 | 1,554 | 57 | 27.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hilltop Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 14% (1,005 to 866); teachers down 8% (42 to 38.8).
About Hilltop Middle
Federal records list Hilltop Middle as a middle school in Chula Vista, California. It enrolled 866 students in grades 7 through 8 for the 2024-25 school year. Enrollment is 31% higher than the average for middle schools in California, which is about 659.
Sweetwater Union High serves 33,517 students across 28 schools.
The student body at Hilltop Middle is 85% Hispanic. Other groups make up 7% White, 3% multiracial, and 3% Asian. County-wide, 35% of San Diego County residents are Hispanic. Pick two students at random and there is a 27% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Staffing totals 38.8 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 22.3:1. On average, middle schools in California have 20.7:1, compared with 22.3:1 here. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Hilltop Middle is 52%. For comparison, public schools in San Diego County average 54%.
Measured against California public middle schools, Hilltop Middle receives a D. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
On BeatsExpectations, which compares test results with what a school's student poverty level would predict, Hilltop Middle ranks in the bottom 10% in California. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 28.6%, against a prediction of 49.0%.
San Diego County has about 3,288,774 residents, and the median household income is $106,268, 43% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Besides Hilltop Middle, San Diego County has 765 other public schools.
The closest public school to Hilltop Middle is Hilltop Drive Elementary, about 0.2 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 28.6% is below the 41.2% average for nearby schools.
Its location is classified as City: Large by the National Center for Education Statistics.
The school enrolled 866 students in 2024-25, 48 fewer than the 914 it had in 2020-21. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 23.4:1; by 2024-25 it was 22.3:1.
Community posts for Hilltop Middle can cover school safety, transportation, and start times. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
San Diego County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
3,288,774
Census ACS
Median income
$106,268
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
766
467,437 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Sweetwater Union High
- Eastlake HighHigh · 2,557 students
- Otay Ranch Senior HighHigh · 2,440 students
- Sweetwater HighHigh · 2,290 students
- Olympian HighHigh · 2,289 students
- Bonita Vista Senior HighHigh · 1,960 students
- San Ysidro HighHigh · 1,941 students
Other schools in Chula Vista
- Eastlake HighHigh · 2,557 students
- Otay Ranch Senior HighHigh · 2,440 students
- Olympian HighHigh · 2,289 students
- Bonita Vista Senior HighHigh · 1,960 students
- Chula Vista Senior HighHigh · 1,864 students
- Hilltop Senior HighHigh · 1,771 students
Nearby schools
- Hilltop Drive Elementary0.2 mi · 559
- Hilltop Senior High0.4 mi · 1,771
- Cook (Hazel Goes) Elementary0.5 mi · 346
- Halecrest Elementary1.0 mi · 415
- Leonardo da Vinci Health Sciences Charter1.0 mi · 273
- Kellogg (Karl H.) Elementary1.0 mi · 305
Frequently asked questions
About Hilltop MiddleHow many students attend Hilltop Middle?
Hilltop Middle enrolls approximately 866 students in grades 07-08.
Is Hilltop Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
Hilltop Middle is a middle school covering grades 07-08.
How many teachers does Hilltop Middle have?
Hilltop Middle employs 39 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 22.3:1.
What is the student diversity at Hilltop Middle?
Student demographics at Hilltop Middle are roughly 7% White, 85% Hispanic, 1% Black, 3% Asian, 3% Two or more.
What district is Hilltop Middle in?
Hilltop Middle is part of Sweetwater Union High.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.