The top reported proficiency rate is 18% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Hillcrest Elem School
Hillcrest Elementary serves kindergarten through fourth grade in East Moline, a manufacturing-rooted city along the Mississippi that is currently reinventing its downtown and riverfront. The school enrolls a diverse student body of roughly comparable size to its grade band, with enrollment fairly balanced across its five grades. The student population is predominantly Latino and Black, with smaller shares of white students and other groups represented.
Academic performance at Hillcrest shows a clear concern. On the most recent Illinois Assessment of Readiness testing in math, third-grade students showed proficiency at roughly one in ten, with fourth grade slightly lower. In English language arts, third grade was also around one in ten, while fourth grade improved to roughly one in four. These results place Hillcrest in the bottom quartile relative to other districts across Rock Island County when measured by overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking what supports are in place for students who are not yet meeting standard and what the school's trajectory has been over time, since the data does not provide multi-year trends.
The school serves grades that are tested under Illinois state assessment, so the test results shown are the available window into academic proficiency at this level. Grades five and above in Illinois are tested but Hillcrest does not enroll them, so no results appear for those grades.
East Moline School District 37 approved a major redistricting plan set to take effect in the 2026-2027 school year, the first boundary change in decades. Under this plan, all elementary schools will shift to a K-5 model, and Hillcrest will become a neighborhood school serving roughly the population it currently does rather than a larger regional program. Fifth graders, who have historically attended middle school, will move into elementary schools instead, which may change class compositions and school culture over time. Families considering a move to the area should verify current address boundaries against the new map, as redistricting will shift which school a given location feeds into.
The broader context of East Moline is one of civic reinvestment. The city was awarded significant federal funding for a downtown revitalization project connecting 15th Avenue with two riverfront entertainment districts, the Rust Belt and the Bend, with the first phase of construction underway and additional phases planned through 2027. Housing values in the area are moderate and relatively affordable compared to state and national benchmarks. The dominant employers remain John Deere and Case New Holland, reflecting East Moline's agricultural manufacturing heritage, though the city is developing new residential and mixed-use riverfront space. Daily life is centered on the Mississippi River amenities, including trails and parks, and public transit is available through MetroLINK, which connects the Quad Cities region.
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