The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in English language arts. The lowest is 8% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Takoma Es
Takoma Elementary School sits on Piney Branch Road in Washington's upper northwest, within the District of Columbia Public Schools system. It is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, drawing families from the surrounding Takoma neighborhood near the Maryland border. The enrollment is mid-sized for a DCPS elementary school, with a sizable pre-kindergarten cohort that feeds into the upper grades.
The student body reflects the racial and ethnic diversity that characterizes much of Washington. About half of the students are Black and roughly a third are Hispanic, with smaller shares of white students and children of two or more races. What the data does not capture is economic need: free- and reduced-price lunch counts were not reported, nor were the rates of students with individualized education programs or English learners. These are common lenses for understanding a school's population, and their absence here means a parent would want to ask the school directly about how it serves children across income levels and language backgrounds.
On the most recent DC state assessments, the school's proficiency results sit below where many families would want them. In math, roughly three in ten tested students met or exceeded expectations. English language arts was nearly identical. Science, assessed only in fifth grade and drawn from an earlier testing cycle, was markedly lower, with only a small handful of tested students reaching proficiency. Participation in the science test was strong. These results are reported facts from the state's long-term goals assessment framework, and a parent considering this school may want to look into how the school is responding academically, what interventions or supports are in place, and how the current year's instruction is structured.
No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from the provided information whether proficiency is improving, declining, or holding steady. The absence of trend comparability is flagged in the source data itself, related to assessment changes, so the gap reflects a measurement limitation rather than a school-level silence.
Because Takoma ES ends at fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. That metric simply does not apply to a school serving only elementary grades. The same is true for AP courses, dual-credit pathways, and career programs, which are features of secondary schools.
The school sits in a part of Washington where housing costs run well above the District's own median and far above national figures. Publicly reported data on the ZIP code shows typical home values approaching the high end of the city's market, with estimated monthly mortgage costs that exceed comparable rents by a wide margin. For families considering buying near the school, the price-to-income ratio is steep. Renting is comparatively more affordable relative to local incomes, though still reflects a high-cost urban market. This is a neighborhood where federal employment, embassies, nonprofits, and professional services shape the local economy, and where the broader metropolitan area is among the largest in the country.
Within DCPS, the district is operating under a strategic plan called A Capital Commitment, covering a multi-year window through the late 2020s, with goals around academic success, student connection to school, and post-secondary readiness. Beginning in the current school year, DCPS also implemented a district-wide cell phone restriction tied to recent legislation, limiting phone use during the school day across all its schools. These are system-level changes that shape the environment at Takoma ES even when they are not specific to it.
No data was available on staffing ratios, course offerings beyond the standard elementary curriculum, discipline, attendance, or school locale classification. Program information was not provided. A family evaluating this school would benefit from asking about enrichment offerings, before- and after-care, and how the school communicates assessment results to parents, since the picture from state data alone is limited. What the data does show is a diverse, city-serving elementary school in an expensive corner of Washington, with state assessment results that indicate real academic challenges and a district context focused on distraction-free learning and system-wide improvement.
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