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What's the best and worst thing about the food at Hillside Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
599
Elementary
DISTRICT 596 · STATE 405
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CLOSTER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 340339000316
Hillside Elementary School
340 Homans Avenue, CLOSTER, NJ 07624 · (201) 768-3860 · Bergen County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL599 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 88% of New Jersey public elementary schools
- ATest 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.
- ·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
10.7:1
56 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.4:1 · STATE 11.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
2%
9 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 30 | 5% |
| Kindergarten | 103 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 98 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 121 | 20% |
| Grade 3 | 121 | 20% |
| Grade 4 | 126 | 21% |
This year's kindergarten class (103) is 18% smaller than its 4th grade class (126).
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 63% · 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 Elementary School→Tenakill Middle School
Based on grade levels within Closter Public School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
78.9%
NJ avg 53.1% . +5.2pp since 2023
Math
78.3%
NJ avg 41.6% . +9.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 79 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 78 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 9 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 78.9% | 78.3% |
| 2023-24 | 73.7% | 69.2% |
% 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
74.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.3%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 75% 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 Elementary School
Hillside Elementary School's state test result (74.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillside Elementary School this school | 599 | 1.5% | 74.9% |
| Norwood Public School NORWOOD | 583 | 1.9% | 64.5% |
| Edward H. Bryan CRESSKILL | 555 | 1.1% | 75.9% |
| Cherry Hill School RIVER EDGE | 697 | 2.2% | 74.9% |
| Hamilton Primary School Basking Ridge | 462 | 4.8% | 70.4% |
| Collins Elementary School LIVINGSTON | 440 | 0.9% | 75.1% |
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 Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Bergen County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 74.9% | #88 of 1,290 | #25 of 137 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 78.3% | #106 of 1,319 ▲ 121 | #32 of 149 ▲ 24 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 78.9% | #104 of 1,319 ▲ 80 | #33 of 149 ▲ 20 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 599 | #227 of 1,562 | #8 of 173 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.7:1 | #537 of 1,390 | #60 of 151 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.1% | #314 of 1,392 | #36 of 151 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 1.5% | #1,438 of 1,481 | #138 of 154 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.1% | #423 of 798 | #47 of 85 |
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
599
-4 (-1%) vs 2020
+106% since 1990-91, when it was 291
Student : Teacher
10.7:1
was 11.2:1
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 | 599 | 56 | 10.7:1 | 2% (9) |
| 2023-24 | 620 | 60.5 | 10.3:1 | 2% (11) |
| 2022-23 | 623 | 59.5 | 10.5:1 | 1% (5) |
| 2020-21 | 603 | 54 | 11.2:1 | 0% (3) |
| 2017-18 | 666 | 53.4 | 12.5:1 | 0% (3) |
| 2015-16 | 623 | 48 | 13.0:1 | 1% (5) |
| 2010-11 | 558 | 32 | 17.4:1 | 0% (0) |
| 2000-01 | 628 | 40 | 15.7:1 | 0% (0) |
| 1990-91 | 291 | 17 | 17.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hillside Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 10% (666 to 599); teachers up 5% (53.4 to 56).
About Hillside Elementary School
Hillside Elementary School is an elementary school in CLOSTER, New Jersey, reachable at (201) 768-3860. Total enrollment is 599 students, and the grades served are pre-K through 4. That is 48% above the average of about 405 students for elementary schools in New Jersey.
Hillside Elementary School is one of 2 schools in Closter Public School District, which enrolls 1,192 students in total.
The largest racial or ethnic group at Hillside Elementary School is Asian, with 41% of students. The remaining shares are 41% White, 9% Hispanic, and 8% multiracial. Bergen County as a whole is about 17% Asian, so the school's share is higher. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 65%.
Hillside Elementary School reports a ratio of 10.7 students per teacher, from 56 full-time-equivalent teachers. The gap from the 11.4:1 average for elementary schools in New Jersey is 0.7 students per teacher. Student poverty is often measured by lunch eligibility; at Hillside Elementary School, 2% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in Bergen County is 28%.
Among New Jersey public elementary schools, Hillside Elementary School outscored 88%, which works out to an A on the allk12 Grade.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 65.3% at Hillside Elementary School; the school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 74.9%.
Bergen County is the school's county. There, median household income comes to about $124,884, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 53%, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Bergen County's 291 public schools enroll about 133,883 students and include Hillside Elementary School.
Of the public schools around it, Hillside Elementary School is closest to Demarest Middle School, about 0.8 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. On average proficiency, Hillside Elementary School is 4th of 8 nearby schools with test data.
Under the NCES locale system, Hillside Elementary School is Suburb: Large.
In 2020-21, Hillside Elementary School enrolled 603; in 2024-25, 599.
This community page is for conversations about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Bergen County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
962,316
Census ACS
Median income
$124,884
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
53%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
291
133,883 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Closter Public School District
- Tenakill Middle SchoolMiddle · 593 students
Other Hillside Elementary schools
24 other US public schools in 16 states are named Hillside Elementary. Hillside Elementary School is the 4th largest of the 25.
- Hillside Elementary SchoolMONTCLAIR, NJ · 684 students
- Hillside Elementary SchoolLIVINGSTON, NJ · 476 students
- Hillside Elementary SchoolMOUNT LAUREL, NJ · 386 students
- Hillside Elementary SchoolAllendale, NJ · 348 students
- Hillside Elementary SchoolFARMINGTON HILLS, MI · 682 students
Nearby schools
- Demarest Middle School0.8 mi · 359
- Tenakill Middle School1.0 mi · 593
- County Road School1.1 mi · 221
- Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest1.2 mi · 1,038
- Bergen County Institute for Science and Technology1.2 mi · 290
- Luther Lee Emerson School1.4 mi · 221
Frequently asked questions
About Hillside Elementary SchoolHow large is Hillside Elementary School?
Hillside Elementary School enrolls approximately 599 students in grades PK-04.
Is Hillside Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Hillside Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-04.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Hillside Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Hillside Elementary School is approximately 10.7:1 (56 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Hillside Elementary School?
At Hillside Elementary School, the student body is approximately 41% White, 9% Hispanic, 1% Black, 41% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Who oversees Hillside Elementary School?
Hillside Elementary School is overseen by Closter Public School District in Bergen County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.