The top reported proficiency rate is 18% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Lawrence E. Boone Es
Lawrence E. Boone Elementary sits on Minnesota Avenue in Southeast Washington, part of the District of Columbia Public Schools system. It is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, and its enrollment is mid-sized for a DC elementary. The student body is almost entirely Black, with a small Hispanic presence and a handful of multiracial students. The school sits in a zip code where home values run below the District's broader average and roughly in line with the national figure, with rents that have been climbing modestly even as local home prices have softened. For families weighing this area, renting remains meaningfully cheaper than carrying a mortgage here.
The academic results from the most recent state assessments are low across all three tested subjects. In math, fewer than one in ten tested students met or exceeded expectations. English language arts was somewhat stronger but still saw only a small fraction of students reach proficiency. Fifth-grade science results were similarly low, though participation was high. These are the most recent figures available, and the school's trend comparability status is marked as unknown, so it is not possible to say from the data whether results are improving, holding steady, or declining over time. A parent weighing this school will likely want to ask what intervention supports are in place and how the school plans to address the gap between current proficiency and grade-level expectations.
Several data sections that would help round out the picture are absent. Free and reduced-price lunch counts were not reported, so it is not possible to characterize the economic need of the student population from the data. Special education and English learner rates are also missing. Discipline, course access, staffing, and attendance data were not available. Civil rights data was not provided. Program offerings, if any, were not listed. This is a thin profile, and the gaps mean a family should go directly to the school and to DCPS for details on academic supports, enrichment, and school climate that the available data does not cover.
Washington itself is, as publicly reported, a federal government company town. The federal workforce dominates employment, and the city also hosts major international institutions, embassies, and a dense concentration of associations and lobbying firms. The L'Enfant Plan's diagonal avenues and quadrant system create a city of distinct neighborhoods rather than a single downtown, and schools like Boone are distributed across those neighborhoods rather than clustered in a central core. Southeast Washington, where the school is located, has seen development pressure and investment in recent years, though the housing data for this zip code suggests the immediate area remains more affordable than much of the District.
At the district level, DCPS is implementing a new cell phone policy beginning in the 2025-26 school year, tied to the Heads Up! Distraction-Free Learning Amendment Act, restricting phone use during the school day across all schools. The district is also working through a five-year strategic plan called A Capital Commitment, running through 2028, focused on academic success, student connection, and postsecondary readiness. In January 2026, DCPS opened a new middle school addition at Leckie Education Campus in Ward 8, which may be relevant for Boone families thinking about where students go after fifth grade.
What the data does say clearly is that Boone is a neighborhood elementary with a tight-knit, predominantly Black student community in Southeast, operating in a city where the public school system is actively working on distraction-free learning and broader strategic goals. What it does not say is just as important. Without FRPL, staffing, discipline, attendance, or program data, a parent has limited evidence to go on beyond the proficiency numbers. Those numbers are low, and a family considering this school should treat them as a starting question, not a final answer, and press the school and district for the fuller picture.
See more original research from School Decision →