The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in English language arts. The lowest is 30% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Hillside Intermediate School
Hillside Intermediate School serves fifth and sixth grades in Naugatuck, a small borough in Connecticut's Naugatuck Valley region that functions largely as a residential community between Waterbury and Bridgeport. The school enrolls a modest-sized cohort of students drawn mostly from local neighborhoods and reflects Naugatuck's demographic composition: a majority Hispanic student body, a substantial share of African American and white students, and a significant population of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a community with moderate to lower household incomes. Nearly all students tested participated in state assessments, reflecting strong attendance and engagement with the testing process.
Academic proficiency across Hillside's two grades shows patterns worth understanding clearly. In English language arts, about half of sixth-graders scored at proficiency, with a slightly lower rate among fifth-graders. Math proficiency dropped notably lower: fewer than one in three sixth-graders and only about one in three fifth-graders met the state standard. Science proficiency, assessed only in fifth grade, fell between these, with about four in ten students reaching proficiency. Across all three tested subjects, the school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint relative to other districts in the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. A parent evaluating whether Hillside meets their child's academic needs may want to look further into how the school responds to the lower math outcomes and what supports or interventions exist for students not yet proficient. State testing data from only one school year was available, so longer-term trend information was not present in the record.
The student population at Hillside is economically mixed. More than two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a proxy for household income below or near 185 percent of federal poverty guidelines. This concentration shapes both the school's funding profile and its teaching priorities, as schools serving higher-poverty populations often direct resources toward foundational skill-building and support services. The school itself is a neighborhood-based intermediate, not a specialized or magnet program; it functions as the standard path for middle-grades students in Naugatuck's district.
The town of Naugatuck itself is a small, family-oriented borough built around a historic walkable center at the Naugatuck Green, where civic buildings and the library cluster together. Beyond downtown, neighborhoods are suburban and residential, and the school sits in that distributed pattern rather than on a single campus. The borough is actively redeveloping its downtown and rail station in an effort to spur mixed-use, walkable growth; CTDOT began construction on a relocated train station in July 2025, expected to open in 2027. For families, Naugatuck offers modest housing values and a small-town character, though the town underwent a property-tax revaluation in 2022 with a phased implementation that affects what residents owe annually.
One district-wide shift affecting all students, including those at Hillside, occurred in elementary grades. Naugatuck adopted a Science of Reading approach to reading instruction, moving away from prior balanced-literacy practice in response to Connecticut's Right to Read law. Students in Hillside who learned under the older approach in elementary would be transitioning now; families with younger siblings entering the elementary grades will encounter the new structured-literacy model from the start. The district also moved its kindergarten entrance-age cutoff from January 1 to September 1, affecting families planning early-childhood enrollment.
Hillside Intermediate is a conventional neighborhood school for a community going through targeted growth and revaluation. It serves a majority low-income, majority Hispanic population with below-average state proficiency, particularly in math. The school functions as the standard intermediate pathway; there are no specialized programs or alternative designation mentioned in the data. For families considering Naugatuck schools, Hillside represents the intermediate-grade experience for that community, rooted in a town remaking itself around transit and downtown walkability.
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