The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in English language arts. The lowest is 28% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Tubman Es
Tubman Elementary School sits in the Columbia Heights area of Northwest Washington, a part of the city where the L'Enfant Plan's broad diagonal avenues meet dense residential blocks. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the District of Columbia Public Schools system. Its enrollment is moderate for a DCPS elementary school, with fairly even distribution across the grade levels.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black enrollment and a small white population. A handful of students are Asian or multiracial. The school's demographics reflect the surrounding neighborhood, which has long been one of the more diverse and working-class pockets of Northwest. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available in the sources we reviewed, and information on English learners and special education populations was also missing, so we cannot characterize those shares here. A parent looking into support services may want to ask the school directly about those figures.
On the most recent DC Long-Term Goals assessment, roughly three in ten Tubman students met or exceeded expectations in English language arts, and slightly fewer did so in math. These results sit below where most families would want an elementary school to be, and they suggest a meaningful share of students are not yet at grade-level benchmarks. Science results from an earlier testing cycle were lower still, with essentially no fifth graders reaching proficiency, though participation was high. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, including what interventions and instructional supports are in place for students performing below grade level.
The school does not have a graduation rate or high school program data, which is expected for an elementary school serving only through grade five. Civil rights data, course access, staffing, attendance, and discipline information were not available in the provided materials. Program offerings were also not listed, so we cannot speak to whether Tubman offers enrichment, arts, language, or after-school programming.
The housing market around Tubman is expensive by national standards, though close to typical for Washington. Typical home values in the school's zip code sit well above the national benchmark and modestly above the DC state benchmark, with recent values edging down slightly year over year. Rents are high but more manageable relative to local incomes than buying, with the estimated monthly mortgage running well above typical rent. The price-to-income ratio is steep, meaning families relying on a single income would find purchasing here difficult. For renters, the area is relatively more accessible.
Washington itself is a government-driven city, with the federal establishment as its dominant employer and a large presence of embassies, international organizations, lobbying firms, and associations. The city's quadrant system and L'Enfant-designed street grid create distinct neighborhood identities, and Columbia Heights is one of the more transit-connected and pedestrian-friendly areas, with Metrorail access and a mix of local retail along 14th Street. The broader metropolitan area has grown substantially, and DCPS continues to adjust its capacity, recently adding a middle school addition at Leckie Education Campus in Ward 8. The district has also implemented a new cell phone restriction policy for the 2025-2026 school year, tied to citywide legislation aimed at distraction-free learning, and is working through a five-year strategic plan called A Capital Commitment covering all DCPS schools.
For a family considering Tubman, the picture is one of a neighborhood elementary school in a walkable, diverse, relatively expensive part of the city, with academic results that indicate room for growth and gaps in the publicly available data that make a full assessment difficult. The strongest draw is likely the community and location; the clearest concern is proficiency. A visit and direct conversation with school leadership would help fill in what the data does not.
See more original research from School Decision →