The top reported proficiency rate is 74% in Science. The lowest is 47% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Crooked Billet El Sch
Crooked Billet Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Hatboro, a small residential borough in Montgomery County with a downtown revival underway. The school sits within the Hatboro-Horsham School District, which operates six schools across Hatboro and neighboring Horsham Township. Elementary families experience a distinctive geography: Crooked Billet is the only district school inside the borough itself, so school life is embedded in the walkable, in-town setting of downtown Hatboro rather than on a separate campus. The building occupies a Revolutionary War battlefield site, with a significant monument on the grounds.
The school serves around 450 students across six grade levels, with a fairly balanced enrollment. Roughly 44 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, and Black students. About two percent of students are Asian, and about 12 percent are Hispanic. Data on English learners and special education enrollment were not available.
Academic performance shows mixed results. In science, proficiency reached a notably higher level, with students in grades 3-8 showing strength. In math and English language arts, proficiency rates across those tested grades sat below half, which is a soft spot. When math and ELA proficiency are averaged together with the science result, the school's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint among the comparable districts in Montgomery County. A parent may want to look into how the school is approaching instruction in math and reading, especially given the district's recent adoption of new core curriculum materials for elementary grades, including new literacy and math resources that are meant to strengthen foundational skills.
The district has undergone significant recent shifts that affect the elementary experience. In 2023 and 2024, the district adopted new core curriculum resources for K-5: HMH's Into Reading and UFLI Foundations for literacy, Bridges in Mathematics, FOSS for science, and InquirED's Inquiry Journeys for social studies. These represent a foundational change in how children are taught early reading, math, and science, so families with children at Crooked Billet are encountering these newer approaches. The district is also realigning science curriculum to Pennsylvania's recently published STEELS standards, a multi-year shift that will reshape how science is taught.
On the property tax front, families in Hatboro have faced consecutive years of significant tax increases. The district is funding a new Keith Valley Middle School, which opened for the 2025-26 school year at substantial cost, and property taxes have risen sharply in three consecutive years to service this debt. While this affects middle and high school families most directly, it shapes the household financial picture for all district residents and prospective homebuyers in the area.
Hatboro itself is a historically rooted, residential borough with a muscle-car culture and recent downtown revitalization. Most residents live in single-family homes on tree-lined streets. The main street corridor along York Road has seen dozens of new businesses open over the past few years, with more than two dozen restaurants, shops, breweries, and bakeries now operating downtown. Two new apartment complexes have recently opened, bringing residential infill. The borough is walkable near the center, with a SEPTA train station serving the Warminster Line, and several public parks anchor community life. Housing values in the area have remained relatively stable, and the local employment base includes small Main Street businesses and some regional employers nearby, though the Hatboro footprint itself is small.
For elementary families, the experience centers on a school embedded in town, with curriculum redesigned in recent years and proficiency in early literacy and math skills below the county midpoint. Families who prioritize strong early reading and math instruction, or who are evaluating school choice, will want to understand the school's particular strengths and challenges in those subjects.
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