Enrollment
486
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Los Angeles, CA
Federal NCES profile for Hillcrest Drive Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 32/100.
The verdict
Hillcrest Drive Elementary earns 32/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 75% of California schools.
Hillcrest Drive Elementary has class sizes smaller than 75% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Hillcrest Drive Elementary ranks #162 of 344 elementary schools in Los Angeles, CA.
NCES ID 062271003084 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Enrollment
486
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Teachers (FTE)
26.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
18.7:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
-13% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
96.2%
vs 55.5% California avg
+73% vs state
How Hillcrest Drive Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians
Smaller classes than state median
18.7:1 - 2.8 below the California state median of 21.5:1, indicating smaller average class loads than typical schools in the state.
Hillcrest Drive Elementary is a high-poverty, mid-sized elementary school in Los Angeles, California, enrolling 486 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 18.7:1 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need is high: 96.2% of students qualify for free meals, 73% above the California average, a Title I-weighted population that federal funding formulas prioritise.
With 486 students, its enrollment sits close to the California median campus size.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 9,998 scored California schools.
Against 951 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #253.
Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (50%) and African American (41%) (diversity index 58/100).
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 62.1% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Los Angeles Unified spends $21,940 per pupil, 33% above the California average, a better-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 19.2% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Among Los Angeles's elementary schools, it stands alongside Wish Community (860 students): Hillcrest Drive Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (18.7:1 vs 23.2:1).
Los Angeles Unified also operates Grover Cleveland Charter High (2,719 students) and North Hollywood Senior High (2,444 students) alongside Hillcrest Drive Elementary.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
Hillcrest Drive Elementary on the metrics families compare, against California and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs California | California avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 18.7:1 | ▼ 13% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 96.2% | ▲ 73% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 486 | top 47% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 49.8% of enrollment.
Simpson diversity index - at 58.1, Hillcrest Drive Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Los Angeles Unified, which includes Hillcrest Drive Elementary.
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grover Cleveland Charter High | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| North Hollywood Senior High | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Phineas Banning Senior High | Larger | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| San Pedro Senior High | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Venice Senior High | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Hillcrest Drive Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of California, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Hillcrest Drive Elementary's federal record.
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Hillcrest Drive Elementary has 486 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Los Angeles, CA.
The student-teacher ratio at Hillcrest Drive Elementary is 18.7:1, which is 13% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 19% higher than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
96.2% of students at Hillcrest Drive Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
The largest demographic group at Hillcrest Drive Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 49.8% of enrollment, in Los Angeles, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 58.1/100.
Hillcrest Drive Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 32/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
By Resource Investment Index, Hillcrest Drive Elementary ranks #162 of 344 elementary schools in Los Angeles, CA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Los Angeles on the city page.
Hillcrest Drive Elementary earns 32/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 75% of California schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
Besides Hillcrest Drive Elementary, Los Angeles Unified also operates Grover Cleveland Charter High (2,719 students), North Hollywood Senior High (2,444 students), and Phineas Banning Senior High (2,422 students). See the Los Angeles Unified district page for the complete list.
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
Published by
PlainSchools Editorial
Independent public-data reference that compiles, verifies, and contextualizes official datasets. We do not accept compensation from entities we cover, and every dataset cites its originating public source.
Last updated:
PlainSchools, “Hillcrest Drive Elementary, Los Angeles CA.” Compiled from NCES Common Core of Data, Civil Rights Data Collection, and the NCES F-33 finance survey; data as of June 2026. https://plainschools.com/schools/hillcrest-drive-elementary-ca
You are welcome to quote these figures with attribution to PlainSchools and the underlying source. The URL above is stable.