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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Hillside Avenue School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
743
Elementary
DISTRICT 381 · STATE 405
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CRANFORD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 340357005460
Hillside Avenue School
125 HILLSIDE AVENUE, CRANFORD, NJ 07016 · (908) 709-6229 · Union County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL743 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 64% of New Jersey 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.
- C+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded New Jersey public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
10.0:1
74 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.8:1 · STATE 11.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
3%
22 students
DISTRICT 2% · STATE 41%
Community
1
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 | 32 | 4% |
| Grade 1 | 53 | 7% |
| Grade 2 | 55 | 7% |
| Grade 3 | 55 | 7% |
| Grade 4 | 58 | 8% |
| Grade 5 | 68 | 9% |
| Grade 6 | 131 | 18% |
| Grade 7 | 141 | 19% |
| Grade 8 | 150 | 20% |
This year's kindergarten class (32) is 79% smaller than its 8th grade class (150).
Student demographics
53%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 43% · STATE 71% · 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
Hillside Avenue School→Cranford High School
Based on grade levels within Cranford Public School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
71.7%
NJ avg 53.1% . +3.4pp since 2023
Math
68.0%
NJ avg 41.6% . +6.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 72 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 68 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Jersey schools, those numbers are about 53 and 42. Reading and writing scores are up about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 7 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 71.7% | 68.0% |
| 2023-24 | 68.3% | 61.1% |
% Meeting or Exceeding Expectations, all students and all tested grades.
Source: NJSLA. 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
62.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
64.5%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 63% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 65% typical for New Jersey 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 New Jersey'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 Hillside Avenue School
Hillside Avenue School's state test result (62.9% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillside Avenue School this school | 743 | 3.0% | 62.9% |
| Alpine Elementary School SPARTA | 759 | 6.6% | N/A |
| Village School HOLMDEL | 822 | 3.3% | 68.5% |
| South Mountain Elementary School S ORANGE | 613 | 5.5% | 63.0% |
| Spring Garden School NUTLEY | 606 | 7.9% | 64.2% |
| Frank K. Hehnly CLARK | 543 | 6.8% | 59.0% |
Matched among New Jersey 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 Hillside Avenue School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Union County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 62.9% | #281 of 1,290 | #20 of 92 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 68.0% | #276 of 1,319 ▲ 85 | #19 of 93 ▲ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 71.7% | #228 of 1,319 ▲ 56 | #17 of 93 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 743 | #89 of 1,562 | #12 of 108 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.0:1 | #336 of 1,390 | #7 of 103 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 53.2% | #714 of 1,392 | #49 of 103 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 3.0% | #1,392 of 1,481 | #89 of 105 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.9% | #411 of 545 | #29 of 42 |
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
743
+56 (+8%) vs 2020
+43% since 1990-91, when it was 519
Student : Teacher
10.0:1
was 8.7:1
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 | 743 | 74.2 | 10.0:1 | 3% (22) |
| 2023-24 | 748 | 73.4 | 10.2:1 | 3% (21) |
| 2022-23 | 734 | 78.2 | 9.4:1 | 3% (24) |
| 2020-21 | 687 | 79 | 8.7:1 | 2% (13) |
| 2017-18 | 715 | 71.5 | 10.0:1 | 7% (51) |
| 2015-16 | 779 | 80 | 9.7:1 | 7% (51) |
| 2010-11 | 768 | 62 | 12.4:1 | 9% (69) |
| 2000-01 | 653 | 50 | 13.1:1 | 7% (43) |
| 1990-91 | 519 | 35 | 14.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hillside Avenue School.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (715 to 743); teachers up 4% (71.5 to 74.2).
About Hillside Avenue School
Families in CRANFORD, New Jersey, are served by Hillside Avenue School, a large elementary school. It covers kindergarten through 8, with a total enrollment of 743 students. Enrollment is 83% higher than the average for elementary schools in New Jersey, which is about 405.
Cranford Public School District has 7 schools and 3,773 students, and Hillside Avenue School is one of those schools.
White students account for 65% of enrollment at Hillside Avenue School. Enrollment also includes 19% Hispanic, 7% Asian, 5% multiracial, and 4% Black. The school's White share is 26 points above the 39% share among Union County residents. By the diversity index, Hillside Avenue School comes in at 53%.
With 74.2 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at Hillside Avenue School was 10.0:1. Among elementary schools in New Jersey, the typical ratio is 11.4:1. Hillside Avenue School's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 3%. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Union County is 52%.
The allk12 Grade for Hillside Avenue School is B. Compared with New Jersey public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 64% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Schools in New Jersey with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to score about 64.5%. Hillside Avenue School scores 62.9%.
Census Bureau estimates for Union County show that median household income is about $103,202, roughly 39% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Hillside Avenue School is one of 180 public schools in Union County, which together enroll about 99,046 students.
The nearest other public school, Walnut Avenue School, is about 0.5 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Hillside Avenue School is 2nd of 6 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
Its location is classified as Suburb: Large by the National Center for Education Statistics.
The student count in 2024-25 was 743, 8% above the 687 of 2020-21. By 2024-25, the school had 10.0 students per teacher, compared with 8.7 in 2020-21.
Conversations here can range across sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Union County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
579,290
Census ACS
Median income
$103,202
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
180
99,046 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Cranford Public School District
- Cranford High SchoolHigh · 1,116 students
- Orange Avenue SchoolMiddle · 750 students
- Brookside Place SchoolElementary · 364 students
- Walnut Avenue SchoolElementary · 304 students
- Livingston Avenue SchoolElementary · 270 students
- Bloomingdale Avenue SchoolElementary · 226 students
Other schools in CRANFORD
- Cranford High SchoolHigh · 1,116 students
- Orange Avenue SchoolMiddle · 750 students
- Brookside Place SchoolElementary · 364 students
- Walnut Avenue SchoolElementary · 304 students
- Livingston Avenue SchoolElementary · 270 students
- Bloomingdale Avenue SchoolElementary · 226 students
Nearby schools
- Walnut Avenue School0.5 mi · 304
- Livingston Avenue School0.7 mi · 270
- Number 100.8 mi · 299
- Winfield Township0.9 mi · 141
- Washington Elementary School1.2 mi · 397
- Myles J. McManus MIddle School1.2 mi · 711
Frequently asked questions
About Hillside Avenue SchoolHow large is Hillside Avenue School?
Hillside Avenue School enrolls approximately 743 students in grades KG-08.
What grades does Hillside Avenue School serve?
Hillside Avenue School serves grades KG-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Hillside Avenue School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Hillside Avenue School is approximately 10.0:1 (74 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Hillside Avenue School?
At Hillside Avenue School, the student body is approximately 65% White, 19% Hispanic, 4% Black, 7% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Hillside Avenue School in?
Hillside Avenue School is part of Cranford Public School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.