Hillcrest Elementary School

Hillcrest Elementary School is a middle-of-the-pack K-5 school in ALMA, Michigan, one of the schools within Alma Public Schools. The school serves 400 students in grades 1 through 3.

Alma Public Schools runs 5 schools in total, collectively educating 1,815 students. Hillcrest Elementary School is one of those campuses.

Demographically, Hillcrest Elementary School reports that 86% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 9% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. Compared to Gratiot County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Hillcrest Elementary School has 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 16.7:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 15.8:1 average. About 77% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Gratiot County (around 64%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Hillcrest Elementary School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 32.1% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 35.7%.

In the area at large, census data for Gratiot County shows median household earnings sit near $63,556, about 19% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Hillcrest Elementary School is one of 24 public schools in Gratiot County (combined enrollment of about 5,245 students).

The closest other public school is Gratiot Continuous Learning Center, roughly 0.9 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Hillcrest Elementary School comes 1st of 4 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 33.1%.

The campus sits in a town-center setting.

Five-year trend. Hillcrest Elementary School's enrollment has rose 37% since 2018, when it stood at 292 (now 400). The Hispanic share of enrollment edged down from 14% to 9% over that span.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.