Hillcrest School District

The Hillcrest School District in Strawberry, Arkansas, is a small, rural district serving 442 students across two schools: Hillcrest Elementary School (Pre-K through 6th grade) and Hillcrest High School (7th through 12th grade).

Hillcrest Elementary School is the district's standout performer, consistently exceeding state averages in English Language Arts, Reading, Mathematics, and Science. It has earned a 4-star rating and shows a strong upward trend in its ranking. The school demonstrates consistent academic growth from grade to grade, with proficiency in English Language Arts rising from 31% in 3rd grade to 61.5% in 6th grade. In contrast, Hillcrest High School presents a mixed picture. While it boasts an excellent 0.5% dropout rate and strong performance in general Mathematics (64.1%) and Science (61.1%), it struggles significantly in advanced math courses like Algebra (25.9%) and Geometry (11.5%), and its English Language Arts proficiency (34.9%) falls below the state average. The high school's ranking is in the bottom half of Arkansas high schools, earning a 2-star rating.

A key paradox is that the high school spends $1,471 more per student and has a drastically smaller student-teacher ratio (3.6:1) than the elementary school (15.1:1), yet its overall academic performance is lower. This suggests the elementary school's success is driven by factors beyond just funding and class size. A district-wide strength is Science, where both schools significantly outperform the state average. The elementary school's strong math foundation also contrasts sharply with the high school's difficulty in advanced math, indicating a potential gap in curriculum alignment between the two schools.