The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in English language arts. The lowest is 41% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Oyster-adams Bilingual School
Oyster-Adams Bilingual School is a pre-K through eighth-grade public school in the District of Columbia Public Schools system, operating across two campuses on Calvert Street and 11th Street NW. It is a dual-language Spanish-English school, which means the bilingual program is not an add-on but the organizing principle of the school. For families specifically seeking immersion education in the public system, this is one of DC's established options, and the school's enrollment reflects a community drawn to that model. The student body is roughly split between Hispanic and white students, with smaller Asian, Black, and multiracial populations. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, and neither were English-learner or special-education rates, so the economic and support-profile picture is incomplete from what we have.
Academic results in the core tested subjects are a clear strength. In the most recent reported year, English language arts proficiency across grades three through eight was strong, and math proficiency in the same band was also well above what many DC schools post. These are genuinely solid numbers for a public school serving a full range of students, and they suggest the bilingual model is not coming at the expense of measured academic outcomes. Science results tell a more mixed story. Fifth-grade science proficiency was moderate, while eighth-grade science proficiency dropped sharply. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly if they have an incoming middle-school-aged child, to understand how science instruction is sequenced across the upper grades and whether the eighth-grade dip reflects a transition point, a staffing pattern, or something else. No trend data was available, so we cannot say whether these results represent improvement or decline from prior years.
Because the school stops at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and that gap simply reflects the grade band served rather than anything about school performance. Data on staffing, attendance, discipline, course access, and program offerings was not provided, so we cannot speak to class sizes, arts or music offerings, advanced coursework, or counseling resources. These are areas a family would want to ask about directly.
The school sits in a part of Washington where housing costs are high. Typical home values in the school's zip code run well above both the DC-wide and national benchmarks, and rents are steep as well. The monthly cost of ownership far exceeds typical rent, and the price-to-income ratio sits at a level that makes purchasing a home here difficult without a strong income. Recent values have softened slightly year over year, but the market remains expensive in absolute terms. For families already living in the area or with the means to rent nearby, access to a bilingual public program without private-school tuition is a real draw. For families considering moving in, the housing cost is a major factor to weigh.
The broader district context includes a new system-wide cell phone restriction taking effect in the current school year, aimed at reducing distractions during the school day. DCPS is also operating under a multi-year strategic plan focused on academic success, student connection, and post-secondary readiness. A new middle-school addition opened at Leckie Education Campus in Ward 8, though that does not directly affect Oyster-Adams, which runs its own middle grades.
What this school offers is a sustained bilingual pathway from early childhood through middle school, solid reading and math outcomes in the tested grades, and a student community that reflects the bilingual mission. The science results in the upper grades and the missing program data are the main gaps a family should probe. For the right family, this is a distinctive public option in an expensive neighborhood.
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