Hilldale School, Pine Brook NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Hilldale School

Hilldale School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Pine Brook, an unincorporated community within Montville Township in Morris County. The school is one of the elementary schools in the Montville Township School District and is a regular public school. The data covers a single academic year and is best understood as a snapshot of the school at that time.

Academically, Hilldale School posted very strong results on the state’s NJSLA assessments. In English language arts, proficiency rates were high across every tested grade, with third and fourth graders scoring at an extremely high level and fifth graders close behind. In math, the pattern was similar, with third and fourth graders achieving at a very high rate and fifth graders a bit lower but still strong. Science results for fifth graders, the only grade tested in that subject, were also solid, though a step down from the peaks in ELA and math. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the top quartile among elementary schools in Morris County, a region with many high-performing districts.

The student body is small, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across grades. The racial and ethnic composition is predominantly white and Asian, with a very small Hispanic population and even smaller shares of Black and multiracial students. A very small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is well below the national average. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school about those programs directly. Because this is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report and no high school course offerings such as Advanced Placement or dual-credit programs.

Pine Brook itself is a car-dependent suburban CDP without a walkable downtown. US Route 46 and Interstate 80 run through the area, and the community is bounded by the Rockaway and Passaic Rivers. Historically agricultural, it has transitioned into a residential suburb. A parent considering a move to the area will find that the local housing market in the broader Morris County area reflects high demand and elevated prices relative to national benchmarks. The typical home value in the Pine Brook ZIP code is very high, and rents are also well above national medians, making this a relatively expensive market to enter. The district has no recent major changes reported in the public record.

What this all adds up to is a small elementary school that serves a relatively affluent, largely white and Asian community and produces very strong academic results by state measures. For a family looking for a high-performing elementary option in a suburban New Jersey setting, Hilldale presents a straightforward case. A family for whom a more economically diverse student body or a more walkable community setting matters may find the local context a counterweight to the school’s academic strengths. The school does not serve high school grades, so a family would need to look at the district’s middle and high school offerings separately to see the full pathway.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 393%

School 93% · District 84% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 497%

School 97% · District 77% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 51 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Grade 584%

School 84% · District 72% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 396%

School 96% · District 77% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 51 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 492%

School 92% · District 83% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 587%

School 87% · District 81% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 58% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 50 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

This schoolMontville Township School District, 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.