The top reported proficiency rate is 14% in English language arts. The lowest is 3% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Cardozo Education Campus
Cardozo Education Campus sits on Clifton Street in Northwest Washington, a regular public school in the District of Columbia Public Schools system serving grades six through twelve. The building pulls from a stretch of the city where row houses, apartment buildings, and retail corridors sit within easy reach of Metro stations and bus lines. The surrounding zip code carries home values well above the national midpoint, and rents there have softened modestly of late. Buying remains expensive relative to income, while renting occupies a smaller share of household earnings than a mortgage would. This is an urban setting in a city built around the federal government, with embassies, international organizations, and lobbying firms shaping the regional economy and drawing commuters from Maryland and Virginia each workday.
The student body is small for a secondary school spanning seven grade levels. Hispanic students form the largest group, followed closely by Black students, with small numbers of Asian, white, multiracial, and American Indian students rounding out the enrollment. The grade distribution tilts toward the high school side, with the largest concentrations in ninth and tenth grades and a senior class of modest size. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, and the school's Title I status was not reported. Information on English learners and special education enrollment was also missing from the data provided.
State assessment results from the most recent reporting cycle show the school well below where most families would want proficiency to sit. In math, the share of students meeting or exceeding expectations was very small. English language arts results were higher but still low, with roughly one in seven students reaching proficiency. Grade eight science, drawn from an earlier reporting period, fell into the lowest reported proficiency band, with participation below full enrollment. These are the numbers the state reports; they describe real academic challenges in core subjects. A parent considering Cardozo may want to ask the school directly how it structures intervention and support in literacy and numeracy, what tutoring or extended learning options exist, and how the school tracks student progress between testing windows.
Several data points that families often weigh were absent. No graduation rate was provided, though the school does serve twelfth grade, so a parent should look that up with DCPS directly. No course access, staffing, attendance, or discipline data was included. Program offerings, magnet status, and any specialized pathways were not listed in the payload. Without these, it is hard to say from the available data alone what electives, advanced coursework, career programs, or extracurriculars the school offers. The DCPS district context does shed some light on the broader framework. The district operates under a five-year strategic plan focused on academic success, student connectedness, and post-secondary readiness. Beginning in the current school year, DCPS also rolled out a district-wide cell phone restriction tied to recent legislation, limiting phone use during the school day across all its schools.
The neighborhood context matters here. Washington is a city of many neighborhoods arranged across quadrants radiating from the Capitol, with transit, libraries, and parks distributed throughout. Cardozo's location in Northwest places it in one of the more densely developed and transit-connected parts of the city. The housing market around the school is expensive by national standards, and the broader metropolitan area is among the largest in the country. Families looking at this school are choosing within a district that offers many options, including charter schools and other DCPS campuses, so comparisons with nearby schools would be a natural next step.
What the data paints is a school serving a predominantly Hispanic and Black student population in an urban, high-cost neighborhood, with state test results that point to substantial academic ground to cover. The missing pieces are substantial enough that visiting the school, talking with administrators about their approach to instruction and support, and asking about graduation outcomes and program offerings would be essential before drawing a fuller conclusion.
See more original research from School Decision →