Burroughs ES vs Hearst ES

Hearst ES scores 9.6/10 overall against Burroughs ES's 8.9/10 — a 0.7-point gap that corresponds to a meaningful difference in state standing. Hearst ES ranks #2 of 240 in the District of Columbia while Burroughs ES ranks #12 of 240, placing both schools firmly in the top 5% of DC elementary schools but with Hearst sitting 10 positions higher. For parents choosing between them, that ranking gap is not a rounding error: Hearst sits one spot off the top of DC's entire public elementary field, a position that reflects consistently stronger measured performance across every scored dimension.

The academic score tells the sharpest story: Hearst ES earns a 9.7/10 in academics against Burroughs ES's 8.6/10, a 1.1-point difference. On growth — how much students advance relative to peers with similar prior performance — Hearst again leads with a 9.7/10 versus Burroughs ES's 9.0/10. Both schools post strong growth numbers, but Hearst's 0.7-point advantage there, stacked on top of its higher academic baseline, means students arrive at a higher floor and continue accelerating faster year over year.

Hearst ES enrolls 337 students versus 297 at Burroughs ES, a roughly 13 percent larger student body. The more consequential difference is staffing: Burroughs ES runs a 9.9:1 student-teacher ratio compared to Hearst ES's 11.6:1, meaning Burroughs averages about 1.7 fewer students per teacher. That gap typically translates to smaller instructional groups and more individual teacher contact time. Families who prioritize adult attention and smaller classroom settings over maximizing ranked outcome scores will find Burroughs the stronger option on this specific dimension.

Both Burroughs ES and Hearst ES serve grades PK through 5, so neither school extends its program range in a way that would advantage families with older elementary-age children. The two campuses sit 5.0 miles apart within Washington, DC — close enough that geography is a live consideration rather than a deciding factor on its own. With identical grade bands and no differentiated enrichment programs in the available data, the decision narrows to a direct trade-off: Hearst's 1.1-point academic lead and second-in-DC ranking for families who weight documented outcomes above all else, or Burroughs's tighter student-teacher ratio for those who want maximum teacher access in a smaller school community.