Original Research by School Decision on Cedar Tree Academy Pcs
Cedar Tree Academy PCS is a public charter school in southeast Washington, D.C., serving children from pre-kindergarten through second grade. It sits on Howard Road in the 20020 zip code, an area east of the Anacostia River that has long been one of the more affordable corners of the city. For a family weighing early-childhood options, this is a school focused entirely on the youngest learners, with no upper grades and no tested grade levels in the state assessment system. That shapes what data is and is not available.
The school's enrollment is modest for its grade band, with the largest share of students in pre-kindergarten and smaller cohorts in each successive grade. The student body is overwhelmingly Black, with a small number of Hispanic students, students identifying as two or more races, and a handful of American Indian or Alaska Native students. White and Asian enrollment is negligible. Because the school does not participate in the free- or reduced-price lunch reporting in the data we received, and because special-population figures such as individualized education program rates and English-learner counts are also missing, we cannot characterize the economic profile of the families served or the level of specialized support the school provides. A parent may want to ask the school directly about these areas.
State assessment results are not available, and that is expected rather than concerning. Cedar Tree Academy stops at second grade, and statewide testing in the District typically begins in the upper elementary grades. The same logic applies to graduation rates, advanced coursework, and college-readiness measures: none of those apply to an early-childhood and primary school. Any performance picture for this school would have to come from sources outside the standard state-reporting framework, such as classroom observations, parent conversations, or the school's own internal assessments. We looked for program offerings, staffing details, attendance patterns, and discipline data and found none reported in the available sources, so those gaps are left unnamed rather than guessed.
Housing in the immediate area tells a particular story. The 20020 zip code carries typical home values well below the D.C. statewide benchmark and slightly below the national figure, which places it among the more accessible ownership markets in a city where housing costs are otherwise steep. Rents in the area run below the broader D.C. market as well, though rents have been rising while home values have slipped recently. For families already living in the neighborhood, or those drawn to southeast D.C. by relative affordability, the school represents a nearby early-education option without the housing pressure that defines much of the rest of the District.
The surrounding city context matters less for a school this age-specific than it would for a secondary school, but the setting is worth a note. Washington is a government-driven city, and southeast D.C. has historically sat apart from the monumental core and the employment centers clustered around the National Mall, K Street, and the federal complex. The area has seen development pressure and neighborhood change as the city has grown, but it remains on the more affordable side of the Anacostia. A family considering this school is choosing an early-childhood program rooted in a predominantly Black, working-class community in a city where school choice is broad and charter options are plentiful.
What we can say with the data in hand is limited. Cedar Tree Academy is an early-grade charter school serving a predominantly Black student body in a relatively affordable part of southeast D.C. Academic outcomes, program specifics, staff composition, and student-support indicators are not in the available data, and several of those gaps are structural given the grade range. Families weighing this option would benefit from visiting the campus, asking about classroom structure and teacher retention, and understanding how the school prepares children for the transition into third grade and beyond, wherever those families plan to send their children next.
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