Crieve Hall Elementary vs Dan Mills Elementary

Crieve Hall Elementary and Dan Mills Elementary sit just 10.8 miles apart in Nashville and are remarkably close competitors — both earning a 9.1/10 overall rating and separated by a single slot in Tennessee's statewide rankings, with Crieve Hall at #59 of 1,785 schools and Dan Mills at #60 of 1,785. Parents can be confident that either school lands in the top 3.5% of all elementary schools in the state, but the internal metrics tell a more nuanced story.

Academically, Crieve Hall Elementary holds a clear edge: its academic score of 9.8/10 outpaces Dan Mills Elementary's 9.5/10 by three-tenths of a point. That gap flips on growth, where Dan Mills Elementary scores 8.6/10 against Crieve Hall Elementary's 8.4/10 — meaning students at Dan Mills are gaining ground at a slightly faster rate relative to expectations, even if Crieve Hall's absolute proficiency ceiling is higher.

The two schools differ meaningfully in size and classroom density. Crieve Hall Elementary enrolls 499 students with a student-teacher ratio of 14.3:1, while Dan Mills Elementary serves a larger population of 604 students at a ratio of 15.9:1. That's roughly one and a half additional students per teacher at Dan Mills — a tangible difference for families who prioritize smaller class environments and more individualized attention.

The most concrete structural difference is grade configuration. Crieve Hall Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade only, while Dan Mills Elementary adds a pre-kindergarten program, giving it a PK–05 span. Families with children not yet at kindergarten age who want to keep siblings in one building, or who want their child to start formal schooling a year early within the same community, will find Dan Mills uniquely positioned among these two options.