Enrollment
254
Elementary
DISTRICT 384 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BURKE COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370048000183
Hillcrest Elementary
201 Tennessee Street, Morganton, NC 28655 · (828) 437-4258 · Burke County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL254 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 25% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded North Carolina public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
18 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.2:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
248 students
DISTRICT 98% · STATE 82%
Community
0
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 | 33 | 13% |
| Kindergarten | 33 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 40 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 32 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 33 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 42 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 41 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (33) is 20% smaller than its 5th grade class (41).
Student demographics
46%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 56% · 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
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
37.8%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
51.3%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 38 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all North Carolina schools, those numbers are about 51 and 52.
Source: NC EOG / EOC. 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
44.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.0%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% typical for North Carolina 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 North Carolina'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
Hillcrest Elementary's state test result (44.2% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillcrest Elementary this school | 254 | 97.6% | 44.2% |
| Donna L Loflin Elementary Asheboro | 300 | 99.0% | 41.1% |
| Candor Elementary Candor | 368 | 99.2% | 31.2% |
| Rock Rest Elementary Monroe | 394 | 99.2% | 65.6% |
| Forest Hill Elementary Morganton | 305 | 99.0% | 43.1% |
| Hargrove Elementary Faison | 361 | 99.2% | 65.9% |
Matched among North Carolina 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 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Burke County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 44.2% | #976 of 1,297 | #13 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 51.3% | #865 of 1,296 | #12 of 14 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 37.8% | #1,021 of 1,300 | #13 of 14 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 254 | #1,284 of 1,485 | #15 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.0:1 | #484 of 1,377 | #4 of 15 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 45.5% | #1,080 of 1,379 | #9 of 15 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.6% | #947 of 1,414 | #12 of 15 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -53.9% | #4 of 937 | #1 of 10 |
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
254
-25 (-9%) vs 2020
-12% since 1990-91, when it was 289
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
was 14.7:1
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 | 254 | 18.1 | 14.0:1 | 98% (248) |
| 2023-24 | 258 | 19.4 | 13.3:1 | 99% (255) |
| 2022-23 | 284 | 20.8 | 13.7:1 | 94% (268) |
| 2020-21 | 279 | 19 | 14.7:1 | 69% (193) |
| 2017-18 | 551 | 33.8 | 16.3:1 | 93% (514) |
| 2015-16 | 531 | 33 | 16.1:1 | 97% (513) |
| 2010-11 | 447 | 32 | 14.0:1 | 83% (371) |
| 2000-01 | 372 | 32 | 11.6:1 | 74% (277) |
| 1990-91 | 289 | 19 | 15.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hillcrest Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 54% (551 to 254); teachers down 46% (33.8 to 18.1).
About Hillcrest Elementary
Families in Morganton, North Carolina, are served by Hillcrest Elementary, a small elementary school. There are 254 students enrolled, covering pre-K through 5. The school is 46% below the average for elementary schools in North Carolina.
Burke County Schools serves 11,667 students across 26 schools.
Hispanic students are 72% of those enrolled at Hillcrest Elementary. Other reported shares: 15% White, 7% Black, and 7% multiracial. That compares with about 9% Hispanic among all Burke County residents. A diversity index of 46% means there is a 46% chance two randomly chosen students at Hillcrest Elementary are from different groups.
Hillcrest Elementary has 18.1 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.0:1. Across elementary schools in North Carolina, the average ratio is 14.9:1. The school has 98% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Burke County average a similar 96%.
On the allk12 Grade, Hillcrest Elementary lands at C, ahead of 25% of North Carolina public elementary schools.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 49.0% at Hillcrest Elementary; the school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 44.2%.
The school's county is Burke County. According to Census Bureau estimates, the median household earns about $58,592 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 21% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 12%. Hillcrest Elementary shares Burke County with 29 other public schools.
Hillcrest Elementary is about 1.5 miles from New Dimensions, its nearest public school. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Hillcrest Elementary ranks 2nd of 5 nearby schools, at 44.2% versus a 42.3% average.
Under the NCES locale system, Hillcrest Elementary is City: Small.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 254, down from 279 in 2020-21.
Anyone can start a thread about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Hillcrest Elementary. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Burke County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
87,795
Census ACS
Median income
$58,592
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
30
12,360 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Burke County Schools
- Freedom HighHigh · 1,299 students
- East Burke HighHigh · 874 students
- Mountain View ElementaryElementary · 762 students
- Patton High SchoolHigh · 756 students
- Draughn High SchoolHigh · 661 students
- East Burke MiddleMiddle · 630 students
Other schools in Morganton
- Freedom HighHigh · 1,299 students
- Mountain View ElementaryElementary · 762 students
- Patton High SchoolHigh · 756 students
- New DimensionsElementary · 569 students
- Drexel ElementaryElementary · 477 students
- Salem ElementaryElementary · 476 students
Other Hillcrest Elementary schools
41 other US public schools in 24 states are named Hillcrest Elementary. Hillcrest Elementary is the 40th largest of the 42.
- Hillcrest ElementaryBurlington, NC · 556 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
- New Dimensions1.5 mi · 569
- Mountain View Elementary1.5 mi · 762
- NC School for the Deaf1.9 mi · 64
- NC School for the Deaf1.9 mi · 60
- Walter R Johnson Middle2.1 mi · 441
- Forest Hill Elementary2.1 mi · 305
Frequently asked questions
About Hillcrest ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Hillcrest Elementary?
Hillcrest Elementary enrolls approximately 254 students in grades PK-05.
Is Hillcrest Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Hillcrest Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Hillcrest Elementary have?
Hillcrest Elementary employs 18 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.0:1.
What is the student diversity at Hillcrest Elementary?
Student demographics at Hillcrest Elementary are roughly 15% White, 72% Hispanic, 7% Black, 7% Two or more.
What district is Hillcrest Elementary in?
Hillcrest Elementary is part of Burke County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.