Rafe Esquith is an American teacher who taught at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School, in Los Angeles, California, from 1984 until his resignation in 2015 as a settlement with the LAUSD. Many of his students, who were all from a community of poor and immigrant families, were described to start classes very early, leave the school late, and typically achieve high scores in standardized tests. Esquith has authored books about teaching and conducted his annual class Shakespeare productions, which were featured in the 2005 documentary The Hobart Shakespeareans.
His teaching honors include the 1992 Teacher of the Year Award (given by The Walt Disney Company's American Teacher Awards), a Fellowship from Johns Hopkins University, Oprah Winfrey’s $100,000 "Use Your Life Award", Parents Magazine’s "As You Grow Award", and National Medal of Arts. Also, he was made an honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire.