Hillsdale Elementary, North Highlands CA

Original Research by School Decision on Hillsdale Elementary

Hillsdale Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in North Highlands, an unincorporated suburban community about twelve miles northeast of downtown Sacramento. The school sits in a working-class area developed after World War II to house airmen, and it remains diverse and family-oriented, with residential neighborhoods of mid-century single-family homes mixed with pockets of commercial and industrial use. The immediate context is shifting: North Highlands is designated a Green Zone for infill development, with substantial multifamily housing planned along the Watt Avenue corridor and infrastructure improvements underway, including light-rail access at the Watt/I-80 station.

The enrollment is small for its grade band, around two hundred students, with a student body that is majority Hispanic, followed by a substantial white population and smaller shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the neighborhood. State data on English learner or special-education enrollment was not available.

On California's CAASPP and CAST assessments in 2024-25, Hillsdale's proficiency rates are low across the board. In English language arts, fourth grade performs strongest at around mid-range, and fifth grade reaches half-proficient; third and sixth grades fall well below. Math proficiency is weaker still, ranging from roughly one-fifth in third grade to about one-third in fifth. Science proficiency in fifth grade was under one-fifth. Overall across tested subjects and grades, the school's proficiency index sits below the midpoint among the twelve elementary schools in Sacramento County's comparison set. Only one year of assessment data was available, so trend direction cannot be determined.

The school is part of Twin Rivers Unified School District, which covers a broad area of Sacramento County and serves a majority low-income student population. The district approved two major facilities bonds in 2022 (Measures J and K) to modernize aging buildings, adding a long-term property-tax obligation to homeowner bills. In March 2026, Twin Rivers teachers ended a strike after nearly two weeks of disrupted instruction; the settlement included significant raises and expanded health benefits but reshapes the district's finances. The district is also managing changes at Highlands Community Charter, an authorized charter school that is reducing sites, revising curriculum, and adding eleventh-grade offerings following audit findings on governance and finance.

Parents considering Hillsdale would want to look into the school's specific instructional supports and intervention strategies, particularly in math, where proficiency is notably below state targets. The broader context of housing growth and transit investment in North Highlands may appeal to families planning to stay in the area, while the recent labor settlement and bond repayment obligations represent shifts in district spending and priorities that families may want to track.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 38% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 423%

School 23% · District 32% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 22% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 28% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 35% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 35% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 36% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 39% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 17% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolTwin Rivers Unified, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.