Hillside High School

Set in HILLSIDE, New Jersey, Hillside High School is a mid-sized senior high, operated by Hillside Public School District. It caters to 911 students across grades 9 through 12.

Across the 7 schools in Hillside Public School District (2,957 students total), Hillside High School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On demographics, Hillside High School logs that the most-represented group is Black (55%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 36% Hispanic, 7% White. That is considerably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 20%.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 67 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.6:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 12.7:1 average. Roughly 67% of students at Hillside High School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is above Union County's rate of about 52%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Hillside High School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 29.8%; this one delivers 16.7%.

Across the wider county, census data for Union County shows median household earnings sit near $103,202, about 39% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, Union County runs 180 public schools (combined enrollment of about 99,046 students), of which Hillside High School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Hurden Looker Elementary School, around 0.4 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Hillside High School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Hillside High School at 7th of 7; the average score across the group is 35.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a residential area.

Five-year trend. Hillside High School's enrollment has grew 7% since 2018, when it stood at 853 (now 911). Over the same period, the Hispanic share grew from 21% to 36%. Class-load math has rose: from 10.9:1 in 2018 to 13.6:1 in 2025.

On the community side, members of the Hillside High School community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.