Built in 1953, Hill was the oldest middle school in Novato before it was closed in June 2011 because of budget and enrollment reasons. All students who used to attend Hill or were slated to become Hill students are being sent to Sinaloa, San Jose or Hamilton Meadow Park at the start of the 2011-12 school year.
Hill included students from all eight neighborhood elementary schools, providing a diverse student body. It was the closest middle school to the downtown area, located at the junction of Hill and Diablo Roads. Hill had an enrollment of about 660 students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Hill's 808 score on the Academic Performance Index was in the middle among the three middle schools in Novato and just above the state recommended target score of 800.
The ethnic makeup of the student body included 52.1 percent whites, 36 percent Hispanics, five percent Asian-American and 4.9 percent black. Students considered English-language learners accounted for 29 percent of the student body, just above the district average of 21 percent. The socioeconomic profile of the student body was below the district median; 44 percent of the students were considered socioeconomically challenged versus the 33 percent median citywide. Forty-three percent of students' parents were college educated, below the district average of 53 percent.