Hillcrest High School earned a State accountability rating of B (80-89) based on three domains: student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps. Scores are scaled from 0 to 100 to align with letter grades. The school scored 78 in student achievement, 86 in school progress and 82 in closing performance gaps. It scored 85 overall in post-secondary readiness, a broad term that refers to student preparedness to undertake multiple pathways after graduation, or specifically, their preparedness for college education.

On the other hand, School For The Talented And Gifted performed excellent to earn a State accountability rating of A. The school posted 100 in student achievement, 100 in school progress, 100 in closing performance gaps and 100 overall in post-secondary readiness.

A distinction designation acknowledges districts and campuses for outstanding achievement based on the outcomes of several performance indicators. Distinction designations are awarded for achievement in several areas and are based on performance relative to a group of campuses of similar type, size, grade span, and student demographics.

It is in this area where the two schools differ. Hillcrest High School’s three out of seven distinctions are in Reading/English Language Arts (ELA), Science and Social Studies. School For The Talented And Gifted's seven out of seven distinctions are in Reading/English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, post-secondary, with 25% student progress and 25% closing performance gaps.

Based on Racial/Ethnic Groups, the dominant group in Hillcrest High School is Hispanics who make up nearly 68.36% of student population, followed by African Americans (17.57%), Whites or Caucasians (10.63%), Two or More Races (1.46%), Asians (1.27%) and Native Americans (0.64%).

The student population at School For The Talented And Gifted is also predominantly by Hispanics at 42.16%, followed by Whites or Caucasians (33.87%), Asians (12.07%), African Americans (6.49%), Two or More Races (4.50%) and Native Americans (0.54%).

Based on household incomes, Hillcrest High School’s economically disadvantaged students is significantly higher at 82.43% compared to 39.64% at School For The Talented And Gifted.

In terms of Limited English Proficiency (LEP), a term used in the United States that refers to a person who is not fluent in the English Language, mainly because it is not their native language, Hillcrest High School has a significantly higher number of English Language Learners comprising 48.25% of its student population compared to 2.52% at School For The Talented And Gifted.

Additionally, Hillcrest High School has 45.32% bilingual students, 20.56% are in the gifted and talented program, while 9.29% are in the special education program. School For The Talented And Gifted’s bilingual students comprise 2.88% of student population while 1.98% are in the special education program. School For The Talented And Gifted bested Hillcrest High School in one area, with nearly 73.33% of its student population in the gifted and talented program.

Hillcrest High School's 104 teachers have been working at the campus for an average of 6 years with individual teaching experience averaging nearly 8.9 years. School For The Talented And Gifted's 31 teachers have been working at the campus for an average of 10.9 years with individual teaching experience averaging close to 13.5 years.

Of its teaching staff, Hillcrest High School has three teachers serving the school for over 30 years, has five teachers serving the school for 20-30 years, 25 teachers have worked for 11-20 years, 27 teachers have worked for 6-10 years, while 40 teachers have been serving the school for over 1-5 years, including six beginning teachers. School For The Talented And Gifted no teacher serving the school for over 30 years, has four teachers serving the school for 20-30 years, 17 teachers have worked for 11-20 years, seven teachers have worked for 6-10 years, while four teachers have been serving the school for over 1-5 years, and school has no beginning teacher.

Hillcrest High School has nine special education teachers assisted by 13 teacher aides or paraprofessionals. School For The Talented And Gifted has one special education teachers and 0 teacher aides or paraprofessionals.