The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in Math. The lowest is 58% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Crest Hill Elementary
Crest Hill Elementary sits on Casper's south side, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of Natrona County School District #1. It is a traditional public school, neither a charter nor a magnet, drawing from a predominantly white enrollment with a smaller Hispanic presence and a few students identifying as American Indian or multiracial. Just under half of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives Crest Hill a moderately mixed economic profile rather than a uniformly affluent or high-need one. The school is modest in size for its grade band, with two or three classrooms per grade level. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so those population shares are unknown here.
On state assessments through Wyoming's WY-TOPP, Crest Hill's results are a genuine strength. Math proficiency is strong in third and fourth grade, with the majority of students meeting or exceeding standards, and it remains above the halfway mark in fifth grade even as that cohort dips. English language arts results are more uneven: third and fifth grade land in solid territory, while fourth grade sits right at the midpoint, with half of tested students reaching proficiency. Fourth-grade science results were also strong, with nearly two-thirds proficient. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Natrona County, which is a meaningful marker of academic performance for a school at this level. Participation rates were high across all tested grades and subjects. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is hard to say whether these results represent steady performance or a recent shift. Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism figures were not provided.
Crest Hill sits in a city that publicly reports itself as Wyoming's second most populous, a regional hub for banking, commerce, and the energy industry. Casper's history as an oil boomtown still echoes in its economy, with a nearby refinery and wind-power logistics firms among the area's anchors. The built environment is sprawling and car-oriented, with Interstate 25 as the main artery. Schools and civic institutions are spread across separate campuses rather than clustered in a walkable downtown core. The city maintains a parks-and-trails system, a municipal golf course, a recreation center, and cultural sites like the Fort Caspar Museum and the Nicolaysen Art Museum. Public transit runs on fixed routes during the week. For a family, this means Crest Hill families are likely driving to school and to most activities, with amenities distributed across the city rather than concentrated near the campus.
The housing market around the school is relatively accessible by national standards. Typical home values in the school's zip code sit below both the Wyoming state benchmark and the national benchmark, and rents are also modest. The gap between monthly rent and an estimated mortgage payment is wide enough that renting costs substantially less than buying at current interest rates, which may matter for families deciding whether to rent or purchase. Home values have ticked up only slightly year over year, suggesting a stable rather than rapidly appreciating market.
One thing parents should be aware of is the broader district context. Natrona County School District #1 has approved a facilities master plan that includes school consolidations, the opening of a new elementary school, and repurposing of older buildings to address declining enrollment and aging infrastructure. Crest Hill itself is not named in the available material as a school slated for closure or consolidation, but the district landscape is shifting, and families may want to ask the district how the plan affects attendance boundaries and feeder patterns over the next few years.
Crest Hill reads as a solid, academically strong elementary school in an affordable, practical corner of Casper. It fits families looking for a conventional public school experience with above-average proficiency results, a moderate economic mix, and a community where daily life runs on driving rather than walkability. The fourth-grade ELA result and the fifth-grade math dip are spots a parent may want to look into further with the school, though neither is unusual for an elementary cohort moving through transition years.
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