Clayton Middle vs Hillside Middle

Clayton Middle and Hillside Middle sit 0.9 miles apart in Salt Lake City, but their state rankings tell a meaningful story: Clayton Middle sits at #50 of 1014 Utah schools while Hillside Middle ranks #29 of 1014 — a 21-spot gap that gives Hillside a clear edge in the overall standings despite both schools earning strong overall ratings. Hillside's composite score of 9.0/10 edges Clayton's 8.8/10, a difference that looks small on paper but reflects a real divergence in one key dimension.

That divergence shows up sharply in the growth scores. Hillside Middle posts a 9.5/10 growth score against Clayton Middle's 8.1/10 — a 1.4-point gap indicating that Hillside is moving students forward at a meaningfully faster pace relative to their starting points. Clayton closes some of that ground on raw academic proficiency, where it edges Hillside 9.4/10 to 9.3/10, suggesting Clayton students arrive at higher baseline performance levels and maintain them. For families weighing a school that accelerates learning versus one where students already perform near the top, these two numbers pull in opposite directions.

Both schools serve grades 7–8 and carry identical free/reduced lunch rates at 28%, meaning neither school has a socioeconomic advantage or disadvantage on that measure. Where they differ is in classroom density: Clayton Middle's student-teacher ratio of 17.9:1 is notably lower than Hillside Middle's 20.6:1, giving Clayton students more access to teacher attention on average. Enrollment is comparable — 555 at Clayton versus 516 at Hillside — so the ratio gap reflects staffing rather than school size.

Both schools operate on the same grade span (7–8), so families won't find one offering an extended middle-school experience. The practical differentiator comes down to what a parent prioritizes: Clayton's lower class sizes and slight academic proficiency edge, or Hillside's superior growth trajectory and higher state rank. At schools this close geographically, those distinctions are the deciding factor.