Forest Elementary School opened in the fall of 1972 with 240 students in grades 1-6 and ten classroom teachers. The school was housed in the lower level of Jefferson Forest High School with the open school concept in mind. Over the years, rapid growth occurred in the surrounding community. Programs for special education, ESL, art, music, physical education, instructional technology and gifted education have been added, as well as additional classroom teachers.
The current facility opened in the fall of 1989 and is located at 1 Scholar Lane, off Perrowville Road, approximately one-half mile from Route 221. It is designed with self-contained classrooms, a gymnasium, stage and library. Continued growth in the area necessitated the building of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. With the opening of the new school in the fall of 2000, Forest Elementary adopted a K-5 grade structure.