The top reported proficiency rate is 14% in English language arts. The lowest is 4% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Drew Es
Drew Elementary School sits on Eads Street in Northeast Washington, a regular public school in the District of Columbia Public Schools system serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a small school by enrollment, with its largest cohort in pre-kindergarten and progressively smaller groups moving up through the upper elementary grades.
The student body is almost entirely Black, with a small Hispanic presence and a handful of white students. The school does not report free-or-reduced-price lunch counts, special education enrollment, or English learner figures, so the economic and special-population picture is incomplete from the available data. What is visible is that Drew serves a nearly homogeneous Black student population in a neighborhood where home values sit well below the District's overall benchmark, closer to the national midpoint.
On state assessments, Drew's results are low across every subject the state reports. In math, only a very small fraction of tested students in grades three through eight met or exceeded expectations in the most recent year. English language arts results were somewhat better but still well below what the state considers proficient, with only a modest share of students clearing that bar. Science, tested in fifth grade in a prior year, showed essentially no students reaching proficiency, though participation was high. These are the most recent results available, and no multi-year trend data was provided, so there is no way to tell from this data whether performance is improving, declining, or holding steady. A parent considering Drew may want to ask the school directly about its academic improvement plans, classroom support, and how it is responding to these results.
Because Drew is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate, no AP or dual-credit coursework, and no career pathway data to report. Those measures apply to secondary schools. The school also lacks reported data on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and attendance, so those dimensions of school life are not visible here.
Housing in the school's zip code tells a story of relative affordability within an expensive city. Typical home values in this area run well below the District's broader benchmark, and they have been declining year over year, which stands out at a time when national home values are holding roughly flat. Rents are more moderate than in much of the city, and renting takes a smaller share of household income than owning does given current mortgage rates. For families weighing whether to buy or rent in this neighborhood, renting is the more manageable path by a clear margin.
The broader context is Washington, D.C., a federal-government-driven city where public sector employment, international organizations, lobbying firms, and associations anchor the economy. The city is cosmopolitan and diverse, built on the L'Enfant Plan with its diagonal avenues radiating from squares and circles. Schools and civic institutions are spread across the city's neighborhoods rather than clustered in a single downtown. The Metro system connects Drew's Northeast location to the rest of the city and to Maryland and Virginia suburbs.
Within DCPS, several district-wide changes are worth noting. A new cell phone policy takes effect in the current school year, restricting phone use during the school day across all schools under the Heads Up! Distraction-Free Learning Amendment Act. The district is also operating under A Capital Commitment, a multi-year strategic plan focused on academic success, student connection to school, and preparation for what comes next. These are district-level initiatives that apply to Drew along with every other DCPS school.
What the data shows is a small elementary school with a tight-knit, nearly homogeneous student body, situated in a relatively affordable corner of an expensive city, facing serious academic challenges. The proficiency results are the central fact. Everything else, from the housing market to the district's strategic plan, is context around that. A family looking at Drew would want to understand what the school is doing right now to move those results, what classroom and support resources are in place, and whether the school's small size and community feel are assets the administration is building on.
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