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What advice would you give to incoming students at Hillcrest Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
400
Elementary
DISTRICT 269 · STATE 369
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ALMA PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 260264003977
Hillcrest Elementary School
515 E ELIZABETH ST, ALMA, MI 48801 · (989) 463-3111 · Gratiot County
GRADES 01–03ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL400 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.7:1 · STATE 15.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
77%
309 students
DISTRICT 72% · STATE 55%
Community
4
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | 132 | 33% |
| Grade 2 | 128 | 32% |
| Grade 3 | 140 | 35% |
Student demographics
25%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 28% · STATE 56% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Hillcrest Elementary School→Pine Avenue Elementary School→Donald L Pavlik Middle School→Alma Senior High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Alma Public Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
33.6%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
37.8%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 34 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Michigan schools, those numbers are about 48 and 45.
Source: M-STEP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
35.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.1%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 36% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 32% typical for Michigan schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Michigan's top nor bottom 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 Hillcrest Elementary School
Hillcrest Elementary School's state test result (35.7% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillcrest Elementary School this school | 400 | 77.3% | 35.7% |
| Snow Elementary School DEARBORN | 465 | 74.4% | 46.2% |
| Pine Trails Elementary School ALLEGAN | 326 | 74.5% | 32.4% |
| WhittemorePrescott Area Elementary WHITTEMORE | 347 | 83.0% | N/A |
| Patricia St Clair Elementary School HESPERIA | 354 | 70.6% | N/A |
| H D Crull Elementary School PORT HURON | 397 | 73.8% | 26.1% |
Matched among Michigan 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 Hillcrest Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Gratiot County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.7% | #819 of 1,085 | #3 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.8% | #735 of 1,072 | #3 of 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.6% | #911 of 1,139 | #5 of 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 400 | #651 of 1,630 | #1 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.7:1 | #897 of 1,424 | #7 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 25.1% | #952 of 1,424 | #3 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 77.3% | #406 of 1,563 | #2 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +37.0% | #41 of 440 | N/A |
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
400
+116 (+41%) vs 2020
+45% since 1990-91, when it was 275
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
was 17.8:1
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 | 400 | 24 | 16.7:1 | 77% (309) |
| 2023-24 | 409 | 26.3 | 15.6:1 | 75% (305) |
| 2022-23 | 268 | 18.9 | 14.2:1 | 76% (205) |
| 2020-21 | 284 | 16 | 17.8:1 | 73% (208) |
| 2017-18 | 292 | 17.1 | 17.1:1 | 60% (175) |
| 2015-16 | 320 | 17 | 18.8:1 | 58% (185) |
| 2010-11 | 332 | 22 | 15.1:1 | 66% (218) |
| 2000-01 | 195 | 14 | 13.9:1 | 66% (128) |
| 1990-91 | 275 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hillcrest Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 37% (292 to 400); teachers up 40% (17.1 to 24).
About Hillcrest Elementary School
Hillcrest Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school located in ALMA, Michigan. It had 400 students in 2024-25, spanning grades 1 through 3.
Alma Public Schools runs 5 schools with a combined 1,815 students. Hillcrest Elementary School is one of them.
The share of students at Hillcrest Elementary School who are White is 86%. Enrollment also includes 9% Hispanic and 4% multiracial. Gratiot County residents are about 86% White, a similar share. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 25, compared with 70 nationally.
The school had 24 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 16.7:1. Across elementary schools in Michigan, the average ratio is 15.8:1. The eligibility rate for free or reduced-price meals is 77%. The average for public schools in Gratiot County is 64%.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Hillcrest Elementary School falls in the middle 80% of Michigan schools: 35.7% actual against 32.1% predicted.
Gratiot County is the school's county. There, the median household earns about $63,556 a year, roughly 19% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. Hillcrest Elementary School shares Gratiot County with 23 other public schools.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Gratiot Continuous Learning Center, is about 0.9 miles. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Hillcrest Elementary School is 1st of 4 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
Locale data from NCES put Hillcrest Elementary School in a town some distance from an urbanized area (Town: Distant).
Federal counts for Hillcrest Elementary School: 284 students in 2020-21, 400 in 2024-25. A gap this wide can follow a change in the grades offered. Federal data show the ratio falling from 17.8:1 to 16.7:1.
This page is set up for the Hillcrest Elementary School community to discuss homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Gratiot County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
41,385
Census ACS
Median income
$63,556
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
24
5,245 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Alma Public Schools
- Alma Senior High SchoolHigh · 552 students
- Donald L Pavlik Middle SchoolMiddle · 457 students
- Pine Avenue Elementary SchoolElementary · 265 students
- Luce Road Elementary SchoolElementary · 141 students
Other schools in ALMA
- Alma Senior High SchoolHigh · 552 students
- Donald L Pavlik Middle SchoolMiddle · 457 students
- Pine Avenue Elementary SchoolElementary · 265 students
- GIRESD Center ProgramsCombined · 173 students
- Luce Road Elementary SchoolElementary · 141 students
- Gratiot Continuous Learning CenterHigh · 41 students
Other Hillcrest Elementary schools
41 other US public schools in 24 states are named Hillcrest Elementary. Hillcrest Elementary School is the 21st largest of the 42.
- Hillcrest Elementary SchoolDEARBORN HEIGHTS, MI · 309 students
- Hillcrest Elementary SchoolLake Stevens, WA · 842 students
- Hillcrest Elementary SchoolEnterprise, AL · 753 students
- Hillcrest Elementary SchoolNEDERLAND, TX · 717 students
- Hillcrest ElementaryBaltimore, MD · 678 students
Nearby schools
- Gratiot Continuous Learning Center0.9 mi · 41
- Pine Avenue Elementary School1.2 mi · 265
- GIRESD Center Programs1.5 mi · 173
- Alma Senior High School1.5 mi · 552
- Donald L Pavlik Middle School1.8 mi · 457
- Luce Road Elementary School1.9 mi · 141
Frequently asked questions
About Hillcrest Elementary SchoolHow large is Hillcrest Elementary School?
Hillcrest Elementary School enrolls approximately 400 students in grades 01-03.
What age range does Hillcrest Elementary School serve?
Hillcrest Elementary School serves students from grade 01 through grade 03.
How many teachers does Hillcrest Elementary School have?
Hillcrest Elementary School employs 24 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.7:1.
What is the student diversity at Hillcrest Elementary School?
Student demographics at Hillcrest Elementary School are roughly 86% White, 9% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Hillcrest Elementary School in?
Hillcrest Elementary School is part of Alma Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.