Lincoln Elementary vs Hillsboro Charter Academy

Lincoln Elementary and Hillsboro Charter Academy sit 5.7 miles apart in Purcellville, Virginia, and both rank among the best elementary schools in the state — but they are not equal. Lincoln Elementary scores 9.4/10 overall versus Hillsboro Charter Academy's 9.1/10, a gap that understates a more significant divide in how each school performs on specific dimensions. In Virginia's statewide ranking of 1,850 schools, Lincoln Elementary lands at #11 and Hillsboro Charter Academy at #33 — both elite placements, but a 22-position spread that matters when families are weighing a deliberate choice.

The academic performance gap is the sharpest difference between the two schools. Lincoln Elementary earns a 9.5/10 academic score against Hillsboro Charter Academy's 8.3/10 — a 1.2-point delta that reflects meaningfully stronger current proficiency levels. Growth tells the opposite story: Hillsboro Charter Academy scores 9.6/10 on growth versus Lincoln Elementary's 9.1/10, meaning Hillsboro is accelerating students at a faster rate even if its baseline proficiency sits lower. Families weighing a high-achieving child who needs challenge versus one who would benefit most from strong year-over-year progress will find these two numbers point in different directions.

The schools diverge sharply on size and staffing. Lincoln Elementary enrolls 92 students with a student-teacher ratio of 8.4:1 — roughly half the class density of Hillsboro Charter Academy, which serves 144 students at a 16.0:1 ratio. That nearly 2:1 difference in adult-to-student attention is one of the most concrete structural distinctions a parent can evaluate. Both schools serve low-poverty populations, with free and reduced-price lunch rates of 10% at Lincoln Elementary and 6% at Hillsboro Charter Academy, suggesting similar economic profiles in the families they draw.

Lincoln Elementary is a traditional public school serving grades PK through 5, making it the only option for pre-kindergarten families in this comparison. Hillsboro Charter Academy operates as a charter school serving kindergarten through 5th grade, which means it comes with an application or lottery process rather than automatic neighborhood enrollment. Parents should verify current enrollment procedures directly with Loudoun County Public Schools for Lincoln and with Hillsboro's charter administration.