Enrollment
316
Elementary
DISTRICT 427 · STATE 204
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BROOKINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT 05-1·NCES 460852000085
Hillcrest Elementary - 04
304 15th Ave, Brookings, SD 57006 · (605) 696-4600 · Brookings County
GRADES PK–03ELEMENTARY33-TOWNREGULAR SCHOOL316 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 27% of South Dakota public elementary schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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 South Dakota public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
13.5:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.5:1 · STATE 15.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
26%
83 students
DISTRICT 23% · STATE 42%
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 | 13 | 4% |
| Kindergarten | 81 | 26% |
| Grade 1 | 82 | 26% |
| Grade 2 | 69 | 22% |
| Grade 3 | 71 | 22% |
Student demographics
43%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 39% · STATE 53% · 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 - 04→Camelot Intermediate - 06→George S. Mickelson Middle School - 02→Brookings High School - 01
Based on grade levels within Brookings School District 05-1. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
36.9%
SD avg 50.3% . +0.7pp since 2022
Math
40.9%
SD avg 47.5% . -5.7pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 41 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all South Dakota schools, those numbers are about 50 and 47. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2022, while math scores are down about 6 points.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 36.9% | 40.9% |
| 2023-24 | 42.2% | 46.9% |
| 2022-23 | 36.2% | 46.6% |
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SD Smarter Balanced. 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
41.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.3%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 42% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 52% typical for South Dakota 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 South Dakota'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 - 04
Hillcrest Elementary - 04's state test result (41.7% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillcrest Elementary - 04 this school | 316 | 26.3% | 41.7% |
| Dakota Valley Elementary - 02 North Sioux City | 386 | 15.8% | 55.0% |
| Journey Elementary - 05 Sioux Falls | 340 | 16.5% | 62.5% |
| Tea Area Venture Elementary - 06 Tea | 379 | 20.6% | 58.9% |
| Hot Springs Elementary - 02 Hot Springs | 306 | 35.6% | 38.0% |
| Camelot Intermediate - 06 Brookings | 523 | 21.4% | 44.2% |
Matched among South Dakota 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 - 04 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota | In Brookings County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.7% | #131 of 193 | #5 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 40.9% | #143 of 199 ▼ 26 | #6 of 6 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 36.9% | #155 of 202 ▼ 19 | #6 of 6 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 316 | #88 of 331 | #5 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.5:1 | #53 of 131 | N/A |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 43.0% | #64 of 131 | N/A |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 26.3% | #145 of 209 | #3 of 6 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +14.1% | #12 of 36 | 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
316
+52 (+20%) vs 2020
-46% since 1990-91, when it was 580
Student : Teacher
13.5:1
was 12.6:1
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 | 316 | 23.4 | 13.5:1 | 26% (83) |
| 2023-24 | 316 | 26.2 | 12.1:1 | 27% (85) |
| 2022-23 | 305 | 20.4 | 14.9:1 | 30% (90) |
| 2020-21 | 264 | 21 | 12.6:1 | 15% (39) |
| 2017-18 | 277 | 19.3 | 14.3:1 | 30% (84) |
| 2015-16 | 310 | 21 | 14.8:1 | 32% (98) |
| 2010-11 | 495 | 32 | 15.5:1 | 23% (115) |
| 2000-01 | 491 | 29 | 16.9:1 | 15% (76) |
| 1990-91 | 580 | 26 | 22.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hillcrest Elementary - 04.
Since 2017-18: students up 14% (277 to 316); teachers up 21% (19.3 to 23.4).
About Hillcrest Elementary - 04
Hillcrest Elementary - 04 is one of the public schools in Brookings, South Dakota. It is a large elementary school. It had 316 students in 2024-25, spanning pre-K through 3. That compares with an average of about 204 students for elementary schools in South Dakota.
The district, Brookings School District 05-1, operates 8 schools serving 3,546 students.
At Hillcrest Elementary - 04, 74% of students are White. The remaining students are 9% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, 4% Asian, and 3% Black. Census figures show Brookings County is about 88% White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Hillcrest Elementary - 04 scores 43%.
For every teacher at Hillcrest Elementary - 04, there are about 13.5 students; the school has 23.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for elementary schools in South Dakota, 15.4:1, is higher. There are 83 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 26% of enrollment.
Among South Dakota public elementary schools, Hillcrest Elementary - 04 outscored 27%, which works out to a C on the allk12 Grade.
Hillcrest Elementary - 04 scores 41.7% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 52.3%.
For the population of Brookings County, the median household earns about $70,064 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 43% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. Hillcrest Elementary - 04 shares Brookings County with 20 other public schools.
Brookings High School - 01 is about 0.7 miles away, making it the nearest public school. There are 7 more public schools inside five miles. Hillcrest Elementary - 04's average proficiency of 41.7% compares with 51.8% for its nearest scored neighbors.
Hillcrest Elementary - 04 is coded as Town: Remote in federal locale data.
Since 2020-21, enrollment has grown 20%, from 264 to 316.
People can post here about special education services, counseling, and support programs and other school topics. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Brookings County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
35,353
Census ACS
Median income
$70,064
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
21
4,921 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Brookings School District 05-1
- Brookings High School - 01High · 979 students
- George S. Mickelson Middle School - 02Middle · 780 students
- Camelot Intermediate - 06Elementary · 523 students
- Dakota Prairie Elementary - 07Elementary · 509 students
- Medary Elementary - 05Elementary · 358 students
- Bobcat Plains Academy High School - 92High · 77 students
Other schools in Brookings
- Brookings High School - 01High · 979 students
- George S. Mickelson Middle School - 02Middle · 780 students
- Camelot Intermediate - 06Elementary · 523 students
- Dakota Prairie Elementary - 07Elementary · 509 students
- Medary Elementary - 05Elementary · 358 students
- Bobcat Plains Academy High School - 92High · 77 students
Other Hillcrest Elementary schools
41 other US public schools in 24 states are named Hillcrest Elementary. Hillcrest Elementary - 04 is the 35th largest of the 42.
- Hillcrest Elementary SchoolLake Stevens, WA · 842 students
- Hillcrest Elementary SchoolEnterprise, AL · 753 students
- Hillcrest Elementary SchoolNEDERLAND, TX · 717 students
- Hillcrest ElementaryBaltimore, MD · 678 students
- HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOLLAKE WALES, FL · 667 students
Nearby schools
- Brookings High School - 010.7 mi · 979
- Medary Elementary - 050.9 mi · 358
- George S. Mickelson Middle School - 021.1 mi · 780
- Bobcat Plains Academy High School - 921.2 mi · 77
- Bobcat Plains Academy Middle School - 931.2 mi · 4
- Camelot Intermediate - 061.3 mi · 523
Frequently asked questions
About Hillcrest Elementary - 04How many students attend Hillcrest Elementary - 04?
Hillcrest Elementary - 04 enrolls approximately 316 students in grades PK-03.
Is Hillcrest Elementary - 04 an elementary, middle, or high school?
Hillcrest Elementary - 04 is an elementary school covering grades PK-03.
How many teachers does Hillcrest Elementary - 04 have?
Hillcrest Elementary - 04 employs 23 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Hillcrest Elementary - 04?
Student demographics at Hillcrest Elementary - 04 are roughly 74% White, 9% Hispanic, 3% Black, 4% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Hillcrest Elementary - 04 public or private?
Hillcrest Elementary - 04 is a public K-12 school, overseen by Brookings School District 05-1.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.