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If you had an hour of school board time for HILLCREST PDS MAGNET, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
431
Elementary
DISTRICT 474 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WACO ISD·NCES 484428005048
Hillcrest Pds Magnet
4225 PINE AVE, WACO, TX 76710 · (254) 772-4286 · McLennan County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL431 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
29 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
63%
273 students
DISTRICT 89% · STATE 65%
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 | 42 | 10% |
| Kindergarten | 66 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 64 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 65 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 65 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 68 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 61 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (66) is 8% larger than its 5th grade class (61).
Student demographics
60%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 63% · 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
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
55.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +35.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
38.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +14.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 55 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 38 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 35 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 14 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 32.0% | 23.0% | 24.0% | 21.0% |
| Mathematics | 20.0% | 18.0% | 24.0% | 38.0% |
Share of tested students at each STAAR level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
STAAR results by year
| School year | Reading | Mathematics |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 55.0% | 38.0% |
| 2024-25 | 53.0% | 38.0% |
| 2023-24 | 48.0% | 40.0% |
| 2022-23 | 28.0% | 12.0% |
| 2021-22 | 24.0% | 10.0% |
| 2020-21 | 20.0% | 24.0% |
% Meets Grade Level or Above, all students and all tested grades.
Source: STAAR. 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
41.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
46.6%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% typical for Texas 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 Texas'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 Pds Magnet
Hillcrest Pds Magnet's state test result (41.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillcrest Pds Magnet this school | 431 | 63.3% | 41.5% |
| Dorie Miller Intermediate School ENNIS | 447 | 64.4% | 44.6% |
| Bowie Elementary School ENNIS | 506 | 64.0% | 36.0% |
| Caldwell Elementary School MCKINNEY | 409 | 67.7% | 39.2% |
| College Park Elementary School DEER PARK | 432 | 62.0% | 61.9% |
| Winn Montessori AUSTIN | 370 | 60.5% | 23.8% |
Matched among Texas 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 Pds Magnet ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In McLennan County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.5% | #2,405 of 4,401 | #20 of 41 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 38.0% | #3,161 of 4,466 ▼ 157 | #19 of 41 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 55.0% | #1,996 of 4,466 ▲ 189 | #19 of 41 ▲ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +26.5pp | #250 of 3,998 | #5 of 40 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 431 | #3,222 of 4,938 | #25 of 49 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.8:1 | #2,309 of 4,622 | #24 of 45 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.3% | #1,380 of 4,628 | #16 of 45 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 63.3% | #2,953 of 4,789 | #25 of 48 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +0.2% | #1,301 of 1,307 | #13 of 13 |
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
431
-10 (-2%) vs 2020
+59% since 2000-01, when it was 271
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
was 17.0:1
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 | 431 | 29 | 14.8:1 | 63% (273) |
| 2023-24 | 433 | 28.6 | 15.1:1 | 67% (289) |
| 2022-23 | 440 | 28.3 | 15.6:1 | 67% (293) |
| 2020-21 | 441 | 26 | 17.0:1 | 73% (324) |
| 2017-18 | 430 | 26.5 | 16.2:1 | 73% (315) |
| 2015-16 | 422 | 25 | 16.9:1 | 65% (276) |
| 2010-11 | 286 | 19 | 15.1:1 | 58% (166) |
| 2000-01 | 271 | 20 | 13.6:1 | 44% (120) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hillcrest Pds Magnet.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (430 to 431); teachers up 10% (26.5 to 29).
About Hillcrest Pds Magnet
Hillcrest Pds Magnet serves students in WACO, Texas, as a small elementary school. It has an enrollment of 431 students in pre-K through 5.
WACO ISD, which runs Hillcrest Pds Magnet, has 24 schools and 13,476 students.
The student body at Hillcrest Pds Magnet is 56% Hispanic. It is also 24% White, 14% Black, and 5% multiracial. McLennan County's residents are about 27% Hispanic, 29 points below the school's share. A diversity index of 60% means there is a 60% chance two randomly chosen students at Hillcrest Pds Magnet are from different groups.
Hillcrest Pds Magnet lists 29 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 14.8 students per teacher. The 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas is close to this figure. About 63% of students at Hillcrest Pds Magnet are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The figure for public schools in McLennan County is close, at 62%.
In Texas, Hillcrest Pds Magnet is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 41.5% actual against a predicted 46.6%.
The county, McLennan County, is where the school is located. Median household income comes to about $66,643, about 29% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 11%. The county's public schools total 124, with about 45,703 students.
Lake Air Montessori School sits about 0.3 miles from Hillcrest Pds Magnet. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Among the 8 closest schools with test data, this one included, Hillcrest Pds Magnet ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
The school's federal locale classification is City: Mid-size.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment held near 431, starting from 441. The number of students per teacher dropped from 17.0 to 14.8 over 4 years.
On allk12, people connected to Hillcrest Pds Magnet can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Members of the school community can share what they know.
McLennan County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
266,067
Census ACS
Median income
$66,643
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
124
45,703 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in WACO ISD
- Waco High SchoolHigh · 1,885 students
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,752 students
- Tennyson Middle SchoolMiddle · 963 students
- Bell's Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 786 students
- Cesar Chavez Middle SchoolMiddle · 786 students
- Lake Air Montessori SchoolElementary · 734 students
Other schools in WACO
- Midway High SchoolHigh · 2,687 students
- Waco High SchoolHigh · 1,885 students
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,752 students
- Tennyson Middle SchoolMiddle · 963 students
- La Vega High SchoolHigh · 881 students
- Bell's Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 786 students
Nearby schools
- Lake Air Montessori School0.3 mi · 734
- Waco High School0.6 mi · 1,885
- Dean Highland Elementary School0.9 mi · 617
- Mountainview Elementary School1.2 mi · 349
- Crestview Elementary School1.3 mi · 464
- Brazos High School1.3 mi · 100
Frequently asked questions
About Hillcrest Pds MagnetHow many students attend Hillcrest Pds Magnet?
Hillcrest Pds Magnet enrolls approximately 431 students in grades PK-05.
Is Hillcrest Pds Magnet an elementary, middle, or high school?
Hillcrest Pds Magnet is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Hillcrest Pds Magnet?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Hillcrest Pds Magnet is approximately 14.8:1 (29 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Hillcrest Pds Magnet?
Hillcrest Pds Magnet reports a student body of 24% White, 56% Hispanic, 14% Black, 0% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Hillcrest Pds Magnet in?
Hillcrest Pds Magnet is part of WACO ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.