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Hillcrest Elementary

Public Grades PK, KG-5
1433rd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,492 North Carolina Elementary Schools
Better than 4% of North Carolina elementary schools
Summary

Hillcrest Elementary is a PK-5 school in Burlington, NC, serving 556 students within the Alamance-Burlington Schools district, where nearly all students (99.5%) qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Hillcrest has consistently ranked near the bottom of North Carolina elementary schools over the past decade, currently sitting at the 4th percentile statewide (1433 out of 1492) with a 0-star rating. Test scores in reading, math, and science are well below district and state averages — for example, only 40.6% of 3rd graders are proficient in math compared to 56.2% across the district and 66.4% statewide. What makes this especially concerning is that nearby schools with similar poverty levels perform far better. Marvin B Smith Elementary, just 1.95 miles away, has nearly identical poverty (99.3%) yet ranks in the 70th percentile with a 4-star rating and proficiency rates above 65% in most subjects. Elon Elementary, 2.1 miles away, has a 99.6% poverty rate and ranks in the 53rd percentile. R Homer Andrews Elementary, also serving a similarly high-poverty population, ranks in the 26th percentile.

One of the most striking differences is chronic absenteeism. Hillcrest's rate is 32.9%, far above the rates at higher-performing nearby schools like Marvin B Smith (19.9%), Elon (20.7%), Highland Elementary (21.6%), and R Homer Andrews (23.6%). There are some relative bright spots: Hispanic students and English Language Learners score in the 20th and 23rd percentiles respectively, and gifted students rank in the 33rd percentile. Science scores are also comparatively less weak than reading and math. The bottom line is that poverty alone does not explain Hillcrest's performance — the school spends more per student ($9,901) than several higher-performing neighbors, and its 15:1 student-teacher ratio is comparable. Reducing chronic absenteeism and learning from nearby high-poverty schools that achieve much stronger results could help change Hillcrest's trajectory.

556
Students ?
15.0
Student/teacher ratio ?
99.5%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 1714 W Davis Street
       Burlington, NC  27215-3841

(336) 570-6120

District: Alamance-Burlington Schools


Students who attend Hillcrest Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Turrentine Middle
High:    Walter M Williams High
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
39.6%
African American:
38.7%
White:
11.7%
more
 See top rated North Carolina elementary schools

 Compare Hillcrest Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 12th percentile in 2016 → 4th in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the North Carolina average (36% vs 61% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (4th percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (33% vs 24% North Carolina)
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school36%
District avg51%
North Carolina avg61%
1,433rd of 1,492
North Carolina public elementary schools ?
Bottom 4%▼ down 8 pts since 2016
From bottom 12% (2016) to bottom 4% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of North Carolina Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
179th of 246Alamance-Burlington Schools among North Carolina districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
20268.91433 of 14924.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202513.11378 of 14907.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202415.61354 of 150510.0%★☆☆☆☆
202312.11385 of 15027.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20228.71446 of 15144.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20219.51392 of 14896.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20198.51402 of 14734.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20184.71402 of 14342.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20175.51384 of 14293.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201616.31253 of 142512.1%★☆☆☆☆
201521.51192 of 144017.2%★☆☆☆☆
201422.81116 of 139019.7%★☆☆☆☆
201336.9903 of 140335.6%★★☆☆☆
201244.0871 of 138837.2%★★☆☆☆
201122.71165 of 138115.6%★☆☆☆☆
201023.21135 of 136316.7%★☆☆☆☆
200930.21027 of 135424.2%★☆☆☆☆
200830.11007 of 132423.9%★☆☆☆☆
200736.1952 of 129326.4%★☆☆☆☆
200639.4872 of 127631.7%★★☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202613.1849 of 9036.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202524.2776 of 91815.5%★☆☆☆☆
202427.4746 of 92419.3%★☆☆☆☆
202321.2815 of 93312.6%★☆☆☆☆
202215.2876 of 9275.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202116.0864 of 8963.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201916.6889 of 9496.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201812.1894 of 9273.6%☆☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202221.5575 of 6349.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202137.0389 of 64639.8%★★☆☆☆
201923.9768 of 87812.5%★☆☆☆☆
201840.3519 of 89742.1%★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202630.2401 of 51922.7%★☆☆☆☆
202536.3362 of 56335.7%★★☆☆☆
202434.7361 of 53332.3%★★☆☆☆
202321.6454 of 51411.7%★☆☆☆☆
202228.0393 of 48519.0%★☆☆☆☆
202123.3337 of 38512.5%★☆☆☆☆
201926.1421 of 49715.3%★☆☆☆☆
201830.4331 of 42121.4%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
20269.21393 of 14473.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202514.21337 of 14517.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202417.21295 of 145511.0%★☆☆☆☆
202311.01375 of 14595.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20227.01427 of 14582.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202110.71352 of 14406.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201912.11328 of 14246.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20187.81354 of 14053.6%☆☆☆☆☆

Gifted and Talented

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202652.0499 of 74332.8%★★☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202628.7781 of 98120.4%★☆☆☆☆
202528.1769 of 96120.0%★☆☆☆☆
202432.7695 of 95126.9%★☆☆☆☆
202335.7610 of 91533.3%★★☆☆☆
202221.9792 of 89311.3%★☆☆☆☆
202132.3606 of 84328.1%★☆☆☆☆
201929.6684 of 86520.9%★☆☆☆☆
201814.1814 of 8514.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202615.91337 of 14346.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202517.81318 of 14378.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202420.21297 of 145010.6%★☆☆☆☆
202318.01293 of 143710.0%★☆☆☆☆
202212.91309 of 13664.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202115.81230 of 13297.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201911.91302 of 13614.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20188.61303 of 13322.2%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202610.81388 of 14514.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202513.61349 of 14507.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202417.81285 of 146412.2%★☆☆☆☆
202316.11299 of 146111.1%★☆☆☆☆
202212.61360 of 14647.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202110.61351 of 14446.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20198.01378 of 14303.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20184.21395 of 14131.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202632.8143 of 18121.0%★☆☆☆☆
202526.3135 of 17522.9%★☆☆☆☆
20196.999 of 1033.9%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202620.9729 of 81510.6%★☆☆☆☆
202537.5502 of 82138.9%★★☆☆☆
202413.5786 of 8011.9%☆☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202510.01133 of 11723.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202416.11083 of 11667.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202310.51130 of 11834.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202215.91093 of 11948.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20218.31152 of 11721.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20195.61162 of 11831.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20184.71168 of 11780.8%☆☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Gifted and Talented (2026)33rd percentile+29 vs school
English Language Learner (2026)23rd percentile+19 vs school
Multi-racial (2026)21st percentile+17 vs school
Hispanic (2026)20th percentile+16 vs school
Special Education (2026)11th percentile+7 vs school
Disabled (2022)9th percentile+5 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)7th percentile+3 vs school
African American (2026)6th percentile~ school
Male (2026)4th percentile~ school
Female (2026)4th percentile~ school
White (2025)3rd percentile-4 vs school
By subject vs North Carolina (2025-2026) ?
Science39%-29 vs state
Mathematics38%-26 vs state
Reading33%-24 vs state

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What people are saying
by a parent
Thursday, March 29, 2018

Open Quote Amazing school with a hard working and dedicated administration and staff Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Hillcrest Elementary

Students at Hillcrest Elementary are 40% Hispanic, 39% African American, 12% White, 9% Two or more races.

Hillcrest Elementary ranks in the bottom 4.0% of North Carolina elementary schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 556 students attended Hillcrest Elementary.

Students who attend Hillcrest Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Turrentine Middle
High : Walter M Williams High

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Latest North Carolina data All new data »
2017–18 through 2025–26 attendance data & graduation ratesSep 2, 2026
2025–26 EOC & EOG test scoresSep 2, 2026
2016–17 through 2024–25 graduation ratesSep 3, 2025
2024–25 EOC & EOG test scoresSep 3, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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