Enrollment
278
Elementary
DISTRICT 432 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·GARDEN GROVE UNIFIED·NCES 061488001851
Merton E. Hill Elementary
9681 11th St., Garden Grove, CA 92844 · (714) 663-6561 · Orange County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL278 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 98% of California public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A-Three-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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
20.6:1
14 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 24.2:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
86%
239 students
DISTRICT 79% · STATE 65%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 64 | 23% |
| Grade 1 | 31 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 37 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 26 | 9% |
| Grade 4 | 35 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 41 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 43 | 15% |
| Grade 7 | 1 | 0% |
Student demographics
56%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 58% · 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
68.3%
CA avg 49.1% . +21.3pp since 2014
Math
64.1%
CA avg 37.7% . +20.1pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 68 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 64 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 21 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 20 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 38.2% | 30.1% | 14.6% | 17.1% |
| Math | 37.5% | 26.6% | 22.7% | 13.3% |
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 | 68.3% | 64.1% |
| 2023-24 | 61.5% | 64.3% |
| 2022-23 | 54.8% | 55.6% |
| 2021-22 | 57.3% | 55.9% |
| 2018-19 | 71.0% | 66.7% |
| 2017-18 | 60.5% | 59.3% |
| 2016-17 | 48.2% | 48.5% |
| 2015-16 | 52.0% | 52.0% |
| 2014-15 | 47.0% | 44.0% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of CA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
64.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
29.2%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+35.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 65% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 29% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 35 points, placing it in California's top 10%.
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 Merton E. Hill Elementary
Merton E. Hill Elementary's state test result (64.6% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merton E. Hill Elementary this school | 278 | 86.0% | 64.6% |
| Post Elementary Westminster | 338 | 80.8% | 63.8% |
| Rice (Eldridge) Elementary Rosemead | 291 | 75.6% | 40.1% |
| Camellia Elementary Sacramento | 309 | 83.8% | 63.1% |
| Willard (Frances E.) Elementary Rosemead | 281 | 79.7% | 51.4% |
| Excelsior Elementary Garden Grove | 426 | 80.5% | 71.0% |
Matched among California elementary 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 Merton E. Hill Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 64.6% | #899 of 5,151 | #133 of 381 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 64.1% | #872 of 5,172 ▼ 36 | #132 of 382 ▼ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 68.3% | #836 of 5,172 ▲ 318 | #130 of 382 ▲ 30 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +9.6pp | #661 of 5,116 | #35 of 381 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 278 | #4,938 of 5,915 | #383 of 404 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.6:1 | #1,261 of 5,352 | #51 of 398 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 56.5% | #2,179 of 5,354 | #181 of 398 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 86.0% | #1,567 of 5,625 | #73 of 400 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -17.3% | #1,734 of 3,837 | #158 of 324 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
278
-25 (-8%) vs 2020
-33% since 1990-91, when it was 412
Student : Teacher
20.6:1
was 21.6:1
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 | 278 | 13.5 | 20.6:1 | 86% (239) |
| 2023-24 | 270 | 12.6 | 21.5:1 | 87% (234) |
| 2022-23 | 273 | 11.6 | 23.6:1 | 85% (231) |
| 2020-21 | 303 | 14 | 21.6:1 | 76% (230) |
| 2017-18 | 336 | 15 | 22.4:1 | 76% (257) |
| 2015-16 | 374 | 15 | 24.9:1 | 72% (268) |
| 2010-11 | 393 | N/A | N/A | 71% (279) |
| 2000-01 | 422 | 19 | 22.2:1 | 61% (256) |
| 1990-91 | 412 | 18 | 22.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Merton E. Hill Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 17% (336 to 278); teachers down 10% (15 to 13.5).
About Merton E. Hill Elementary
Merton E. Hill Elementary is an elementary school in Garden Grove, California, and it is part of Garden Grove Unified. The school's 278 students are in kindergarten through 6. Enrollment is 40% lower than the average for elementary schools in California, which is about 465.
Merton E. Hill Elementary is one school in a 64-school district, Garden Grove Unified, which enrolls 36,994 students.
Asian students make up a majority at Merton E. Hill Elementary, at 59%. The remaining students are 30% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, 3% White, and 3% Black. Census figures show Orange County is about 22% Asian. Merton E. Hill Elementary's diversity index is 56%, against a US figure of 70%.
Federal staffing data show 13.5 full-time-equivalent teachers at Merton E. Hill Elementary and a ratio of 20.6:1. This ratio sits 1.7 below the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 86% of students. The rate at public schools in Orange County averages 55%, lower than here.
Measured against California public elementary schools, Merton E. Hill Elementary receives an A+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Merton E. Hill Elementary scores 35.4 points above its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests: 64.6% actual versus 29.2% predicted. That puts it in the top 10% of California schools on BeatsExpectations.
Census estimates describe Orange County this way: the median household income is $116,289, 44% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Besides Merton E. Hill Elementary, Orange County has 648 other public schools.
The shortest distance from Merton E. Hill Elementary to another public school is about 0.5 miles, to Bolsa Grande High. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Among 8 nearby schools that report test results, Merton E. Hill Elementary ranks 3rd on proficiency.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Suburb: Large: in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Merton E. Hill Elementary's enrollment dropped from 303 in 2020-21 to 278 in 2024-25. Federal data show the ratio falling from 21.6:1 to 20.6:1.
Topics for discussion here include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Orange County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
3,165,820
Census ACS
Median income
$116,289
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
44%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
649
430,458 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Garden Grove Unified
- Garden Grove HighHigh · 2,148 students
- La Quinta HighHigh · 2,041 students
- Bolsa Grande HighHigh · 1,701 students
- Santiago HighHigh · 1,664 students
- Pacifica HighHigh · 1,634 students
- Rancho Alamitos HighHigh · 1,439 students
Other schools in Garden Grove
- Garden Grove HighHigh · 2,148 students
- Bolsa Grande HighHigh · 1,701 students
- Santiago HighHigh · 1,664 students
- Pacifica HighHigh · 1,634 students
- Rancho Alamitos HighHigh · 1,439 students
- Patton ElementaryElementary · 904 students
Nearby schools
- Bolsa Grande High0.5 mi · 1,701
- John Murdy Elementary0.5 mi · 689
- A. G. Cook Elementary0.6 mi · 345
- Jordan Secondary Learning Center0.7 mi · 97
- Donald S. Jordan Intermediate0.7 mi · 551
- Post Elementary0.8 mi · 338
Frequently asked questions
About Merton E. Hill ElementaryHow large is Merton E. Hill Elementary?
Merton E. Hill Elementary enrolls approximately 278 students in grades KG-06.
What age range does Merton E. Hill Elementary serve?
Merton E. Hill Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 06.
How many teachers does Merton E. Hill Elementary have?
Merton E. Hill Elementary employs 14 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 20.6:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Merton E. Hill Elementary?
At Merton E. Hill Elementary, the student body is approximately 3% White, 30% Hispanic, 3% Black, 59% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Merton E. Hill Elementary public or private?
Merton E. Hill Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Garden Grove Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.