Heard County Elementary School has grown steadily for the past several years in size and course offerings. Students receive physical education, art, music, technology, or Accelerated Reader each day. The media center is an important pare of the school that teachers use as an extension of their classroom.

The school participates annual in Pizza Hut Book-It!, Jump Rope For Heart, The American Heart Association, Accelerated Reader, Six Flags Six Hour Reading, The American Cancer Society the March of Dimes, and the Leukemia Society. The school sponsors Brownies, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and 4-H.

Heard County Elementary School has an active Parent-Teacher Organization, School Council, and Student Advisory Committee. Heard County Elementary School was also chosen to receive the Reading First Grant. The faculty, staff, and administration are committed to providing the best possible education for the students of Heard County Elementary School.

An elementary school and primary school were once located on the campus of Heard County Comprehensive High School. In 1969, integration occurred and Heard County Elementary School came into existence at the site previously known as Mary Johnson High School, where all the county's minority students were educated.

The Mary Johnson building was completed in 1954 and was used to educate the county's black students in grades 1-12. When that school was built, community schools such as Stateline, Davis and Union Grove were closed.

The original Mary Johnson school was located on Highway 34 East, originating from the Ebenezer Church School. Mrs. Mary Johnson spearheaded the effort to educate the black children of the county. She donated her teaching salary to help fund the project and sponsored suppers throughout the community. When she had collected enough money, she asked the community to help build the schools using old Army barracks.

The first graduating class of Mary Johnson was in 1952 (11th grade).

In 1969, high school age students at Mary Johnson began going to Heard County High School. Elementary School age students at Franklin Primary and Franklin Elementary (located on the high school campus) started attending school at Heard County Elementary School (the Mary Johnson campus).

A modern media center (named Mary Hines Johnson Media Center in 1993) was built in 1986. A new kindergarten building was constructed in 1980 and the kindergarten program was moved to the elementary campus. In the spring of 1990, the Board of Education designated Heard County Elementary School as a K-5 school and the sixth grade was moved to the campus of Hear County Comprehensive High School.

Heard County Elementary moved to its newest location at 4647 Pearidge Road in August 2005. The new facility is state of the art construction. No portable classrooms are currently in use. Teachers received new equipment including a new computer, overhead projector, and television.