Hearst ES

Hearst Elementary School serves 337 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Washington, District of Columbia. The school earns a composite score of 9.3 out of 10 — rated Exceptional — with academic and growth scores each reaching 9.7. Those marks reflect consistent, measurable performance across every grade the school serves.

The rankings are hard to argue with. Hearst places third out of 240 public schools in the District of Columbia, outperforming 99% of all DC schools. Among the 145 elementary schools in the district, it holds that same third-place position — putting it at the very front of any serious comparison of elementary options in the city.

A student-teacher ratio of 11.6 to 1 gives students meaningful access to their teachers in a standard public school setting. At 337 students, the school runs at a scale where kids are known by name and classroom attention is real, not aspirational. Academic scores and growth scores landing at the same high mark — 9.7 on both — suggest the school isn't coasting on a strong incoming cohort.

It is actively moving students forward. For families evaluating elementary schools in Washington, Hearst's data leaves little room for ambiguity.