Best Public Schools in Hilmar, CA

Hilmar, California, has five schools—two elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools—serving students from kindergarten through high school. Three schools have reported 2025–26 results in ELA, math and science. The most important area-wide finding is that math is the largest gap: those schools averaged 22% proficiency, 16 points below the state’s 38%, and all three were below state figures in each core subject.

Elim Elementary leads the schools with reported results in all three subjects, at 44% in ELA, 33% in math and 26% in science, though it remains below state levels by 6, 5 and 10 points, respectively. Hilmar High has the lowest reported math and science results, at 13% and 19%; Hilmar Middle is lowest in ELA, at 39%. Attendance also separates the schools: Elim’s chronic absenteeism was 4%, compared with 18% statewide, while Irwin High (Continuation) was at 69%.

The three-school average moved farther behind the state from 2024–25 to 2025–26: the gap widened by 1 point in ELA, 2 in math and 4 in science. Individual results differ: Elim improved in all three subjects, while Hilmar High declined in all three, including an 11-point ELA drop. SchoolDigger’s latest ranking percentiles put Elim at the 45th, Hilmar Middle at the 34th and Hilmar High at the 32nd. Elim’s student-teacher ratio is 20.8, compared with 19.6 at Hilmar Middle and 19.3 at Hilmar High; its stronger results alongside the higher ratio are an observation, not an explanation. The schools’ reported free/reduced lunch eligible shares in 2024–25 ranged from 51% at Hilmar Elementary to 81% at Irwin. Hilmar Elementary serves kindergarten through grade 2 and has no supplied test scores, Irwin’s test scores are suppressed, and the schools serve different grade spans.