Summary:
Hilmar Unified has six schools: three elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools, serving students from kindergarten through high school. Four schools have reported 2025–26 proficiency results; Hilmar Elementary has no scores listed, and Irwin High (Continuation)’s test scores are suppressed. The clearest academic challenge is mathematics: the four schools’ equal-school average is 21% proficient, compared with 38% statewide, a 17-point gap; the gaps are smaller in ELA (9 points) and science (14 points).
Elim Elementary leads the schools with reported All Grades results in all three subjects, at 44% in ELA, 33% in math and 26% in science. Its math result is 12 points above the next-highest school, while its leads in ELA and science are about 1 point each. At the low end, Merquin Elementary has the lowest ELA and science results, at 35% and 16%; Hilmar High has the lowest math result, at 13%. Grade-level results add an important exception: Merquin’s grade 3 ELA is 57%, above the state’s 44%, though its results are much lower in grades 4 and 5.
Recent trends are mixed: from 2024–25 to 2025–26, the four-school average rose 5 points in ELA and 2 in math, but fell 1 point in science; Elim improved in all three, while Hilmar High declined in all three. Hilmar High’s 99% graduation rate is a strength, 11 points above the state, alongside proficiency below state results in every tested subject. Attendance also distinguishes the schools: Elim’s chronic absenteeism is 4%, versus 21% at Merquin and 69% at Irwin. SchoolDigger’s percentile rankings from 2023–24 to 2025–26 rose for Elim (37 to 45) and Merquin (9 to 23), and fell for Hilmar High (50 to 32) and Hilmar Middle (42 to 34). As context, 2024–25 free/reduced lunch eligible figures ranged from 51% at Hilmar Elementary to 75% at Merquin; these measures describe school circumstances, not the cause of results.
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