Hilltop Elementary School

Hilltop Elementary School in Ilwaco, Washington, serves 188 students in grades 6–8, making it a small middle school despite its name. Located in a coastal community, the school serves an area with substantial economic need: 62.77% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024–25. The student-teacher ratio improved from 17.0 to 15.9, and per-student spending increased to $20,829 in 2023–24.

Academic results are below Washington averages, with math the clearest challenge. In 2025–26, 17.34% of students were proficient in math, compared with 43.11% statewide; proficiency was especially low in 7th grade at 14.58%. ELA proficiency was 31.79%, compared with 52.81% statewide. Science was the strongest tested subject, with 43.10% proficient—only 7.85 percentage points below the state rate—and this was the school’s best science result in the four-year data. Hilltop generally performs close to, but slightly below, the broader Ocean Beach School District; its district-relative results are much closer than its gaps with Washington overall.

The school’s latest ranking was 424th of 514 Washington schools, placing it at the 18th percentile, an improvement from the 15th percentile the prior year but still in the lower portion statewide. Some student-group results were comparatively stronger, including low socioeconomic status students at the 36th percentile and homeless students at the 78th percentile, though small comparison groups make those figures less certain. With no other schools listed within 20 miles, there are no nearby named schools for direct comparison. Parents may want to ask about math interventions across all grades, how the recent science improvement will be sustained, and how the school is using improved staffing and resources to raise achievement schoolwide.