The reported proficiency rate for English language arts is 23%.
Original Research by School Decision on Mary Mcleod Bethune Day Academy Pcs
Mary McLeod Bethune Day Academy PCS is a single-school public charter network in the District of Columbia, serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from two campuses, one in Brookland in Ward 5 and another in Takoma in Ward 4. The school identifies as an IB World School and offers a Spanish dual language immersion program. The DC Public Charter School Board completed a charter renewal for the school, with the renewal report posted publicly in early 2024, confirming its authorization to operate for the coming years. That gives families some continuity certainty when weighing a commitment to the program.
The enrollment is small overall and narrows as students move up the grades. Pre-kindergarten is the largest single grade, with kindergarten and first grade also relatively full, while the middle grades thin out considerably. By eighth grade the cohort is quite small, which is worth noting because the state reports proficiency in ranges and suppresses some figures when few students sit for the test. The student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial Hispanic share and small representations of white, Asian, and multiracial students. Economic-need data through free or reduced-price lunch was not available, and figures for students with individualized education programs and English learners were also missing, so the picture of how the school serves its most vulnerable students is incomplete from the data on hand.
On the most recent DCCAPE assessments, math proficiency sits in a low band across every tested grade. Third grade, where the most students were tested, landed in the upper twenties range, which is the school's strongest math result. Fourth and fifth grade fell to near zero. The middle grades stayed low, with sixth, seventh, and eighth grade all in a range from zero to the low twenties, though the eighth grade tested cohort was small enough that the margin of uncertainty is wide. ELA results follow a similar pattern. Third grade landed in the mid-twenties range, fourth grade in the low twenties, and fifth grade dropped to near zero. Sixth grade came in the low twenties, seventh grade showed a very wide band reflecting the small number of tested students, and eighth grade landed in the mid-teens to mid-twenties range. Science, drawn from an earlier testing cycle, was very low in fifth grade and suppressed for eighth grade entirely. No average scale scores were reported for any subject or grade.
Taken together, these results point to a school where most students are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks in core subjects, and the pattern is consistent rather than isolated to one grade or subject. The small tested cohorts in the upper grades mean some results carry wide uncertainty, and a parent looking at the middle grades specifically may want to ask the school how it supports students performing below proficiency and what growth data it tracks internally beyond the state snapshots.
What the data does not tell you is whether the IB framework and the dual language immersion model are producing gains that state proficiency tests do not capture, particularly for younger students still building language skills. The school's pre-kindergarten through second grade enrollment is robust, suggesting families find the early childhood and language offerings attractive. The drop in the upper grades could reflect families transferring to other schools for middle school, which is common in the District, or it could reflect attrition. The available data does not distinguish between the two. Discipline data, staffing figures, course access details, and attendance information were not available, so questions about school climate, teacher experience, and program breadth beyond the IB and immersion models would need to go directly to the school. Housing and neighborhood context for the two campuses were also not included in the available material, so a family weighing the commute or the surrounding area would need to research the Brookland and Takoma neighborhoods separately.
This is a small charter with a clear identity built around international baccalaureate pedagogy and Spanish immersion, recently reauthorized and serving a predominantly Black and Hispanic student body. Its academic results on state tests are low across the board, and the missing data on economic need, special populations, staffing, and climate leaves real gaps in what a parent can assess from the outside. Families drawn to the language and IB model may find value in the early grades and should ask the school directly about its approach to academic growth, support for struggling students, and what the middle school experience looks like for the small cohorts that remain.
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