Original Research by School Decision on Hilltop School
Hilltop School, located in Indianapolis, serves only pre-kindergarten students. It is part of the MSD Washington Township district. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet.
The entire student body is enrolled in a single grade level: pre-kindergarten. The enrollment is small. The student body is somewhat racially and ethnically diverse with a mix of white, Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch was not reported, nor was the percentage of students with disabilities or English learners. Because the school serves only pre-kindergarten, there are no state assessment results, no graduation rate, and no chronic absenteeism data to report. This is not a sign of weak performance; standardized testing and graduation metrics simply do not apply to this grade band.
Families considering Hilltop School are looking at a single-year pre-K experience, not a multi-grade pathway. Academic performance metrics that parents of older students typically consult, such as proficiency rates or growth scores, are absent here by design. The key question for this school is what kind of early-learning environment it provides. That information is not captured in the standard academic data sets used for this profile. A parent may want to contact the school directly to learn about its curriculum, play-based or academic focus, teacher qualifications, and daily schedule.
The school is located in Indianapolis, which is the state capital and the largest city in Indiana. The area immediately surrounding the school blends residential and commercial development. Rents in the area have been relatively stable, while home values have seen modest growth and sit near the national average. For the district overall, the monthly cost of renting is comparable to the cost of a mortgage payment on a median-priced home, meaning neither renting nor owning presents a clear affordability advantage. The unemployment rate has been steady at a moderate level.
The parent district, MSD Washington Township, has undergone a recent change that could affect enrollment at Hilltop School. Greenbriar Elementary School was permanently closed following a school board vote, and its students were consolidated into Fox Hill Elementary School starting with the 2025-2026 school year. The district cited declining enrollment and financial pressures as the reasons. Fox Hill now serves pre-K through fifth grade and hosts the district's Dual Language Immersion Program. This consolidation may shift attendance boundaries and school assignments for families in the affected neighborhoods, potentially influencing which families enroll in Hilltop School.
Additionally, the district placed a referendum on the November 2024 ballot, which the district described as being about fiscal health. The outcome of that referendum was not confirmed from available public sources. Depending on its result, the referendum could affect district funding, programming, and property taxes for residents, all of which could indirectly shape the pre-K programs available at Hilltop School.
A parent looking at Hilltop School should consider how the broader district context fits their needs. The school is a single point of entry into a system that has been actively consolidating elementary schools and making financial decisions that affect program availability. For a family whose primary concern is a strong pre-K start, Hilltop School represents that opportunity, but the available data does not provide a window into the quality of instruction or daily experience. A visit and conversation with staff would be essential.
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