About Us
Hillside School, the elementary school of the Hastings-on-Hudson Union Free School District, serves children in grades kindergarten through four. It is located on 22 acres of wooded property about 10 miles north of New York City. The building was constructed in 1963, an additional wing was added in 1971, and a new cafetorium, music spaces, and additional classroom learning spaces were completed in 2022.
The school is home to about 625 students, and the average class size is 21 students.
The student population is diverse and classes are arranged heterogeneously with students accessing the least restrictive environment for learning.
Hillside's staff includes general education teachers, special education teachers, psychologists, a school counselor, speech and language therapists, as well as teachers of English as a New Language and Response to Intervention. There are also special area subject teachers for music, physical education, library, art, and STEAM, as well as a school nurse, teacher aides, teacher assistants, school monitors, custodians, and office staff. The school is led by both the principal and assistant principal.
The instructional program is geared to meet the wide range of students' learning styles and needs. The curriculum consists of language arts, social studies, mathematics, science, music, art, physical education, STEAM, technology, and library skills, all of which are integrated in a multi-disciplinary approach to teaching and learning.
Teachers use a variety of approaches in their instructional programs, including innovative, new ideas as well as more traditional methods. They participate in focused professional development programs including studies with local Teacher Centers, in-house consultants, colleges, universities, workshops and seminars.
Technology is used at Hillside to enhance the curriculum. Computers are installed in all classrooms and chromebook carts and iPad carts are available to all grade levels. Additionally, Grades 2, 3, and 4 have 1:1 Chromebooks, allowing the seamless integration of technology into the strong curricular program. Whether collaborating, researching and/or writing, Chromebooks are one of the many tools students have at their fingertips. At Hillside, the technology remains in the classroom for student use. Currently, all classrooms also have SmartBoards and document cameras to foster a more interactive learning environment.
Hillside's core values are Respect, Courage and Curiosity. These values are the focus of instruction along with our social-emotional learning program, Second Step. All students receive explicit instruction in social skills in order to ensure a successful learning community. Additionally, we would like to congratulate Tovah Janofsky whose theme proposal was selected for the 2024-2025 school year. Our school theme,
"Welcome to the Hillside Team: Together Everyone Achieves More!".
