The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in English language arts. The lowest is 14% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Garfield Es
Garfield Elementary School sits on H Street Southeast in Washington, D.C., part of the District of Columbia Public Schools system. It serves prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular neighborhood school. The building draws from a part of the city where housing values run below the D.C. average, making it one of the more relatively affordable corners of the capital for families looking to buy or rent, though costs by any national standard remain substantial. The surrounding zip code has seen home values decline somewhat over the past year while rents have edged upward.
The student body is small for an elementary school serving seven grade levels. Nearly every student is Black, with a tiny handful of Hispanic, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander children. The school does not report free or reduced-price lunch figures, special education rates, or English learner percentages in the data available here, so a parent would need to ask the school directly for a picture of how it serves economically disadvantaged students and those needing specialized support.
On state assessments, Garfield's results are weak. In math, the share of third through eighth graders meeting or exceeding expectations is low. In English language arts, the proficiency rate is somewhat higher than math but still low. Science results for fifth graders fall in the lowest reported band, with essentially no students reaching proficiency, though the testing pool was small. These are the most recent figures available. A parent considering this school may want to look into what academic interventions and supports are in place, and how the school plans to strengthen instruction in core subjects. The data here does not include trend information across years, so it is hard to say whether performance is improving, holding steady, or declining.
No graduation rate applies here, since Garfield is an elementary school. The same is true for college readiness measures or advanced course access, which do not exist at this grade level. Program offerings, staffing details, attendance data, discipline information, and Title I status were not available in the materials reviewed, leaving a gap in understanding the school's resources and climate.
The broader district context is relevant. DCPS is operating under a five-year strategic plan called A Capital Commitment, running through 2028, which aims to raise academic outcomes and student connectedness across all district schools. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, DCPS rolled out a district-wide cell phone restriction tied to city legislation, limiting phone use during the school day to reduce distractions. The district has also recently expanded middle-grade capacity in Southeast Washington with a new addition at Leckie Education Campus, which may matter to Garfield families thinking ahead to where their children go after fifth grade.
Washington itself is a federal government-driven city, cosmopolitan and diverse, with a distributed layout of neighborhoods across its quadrants rather than a single traditional downtown. Garfield's Southeast location places it in a part of the city that has historically had fewer resources and lower housing costs than neighborhoods closer to the monumental core, though the metropolitan area as a whole is large and economically dynamic.
For a parent weighing this school, the central question is academic fit. The proficiency data points to a school where many students are not yet meeting grade-level expectations in reading, math, or science. Without information on programs, staffing, or support services, it is difficult to assess what the school is doing to address that. A family considering Garfield would be well served by visiting, asking about instructional strategies and interventions, and understanding how the school connects its students to the path ahead in a district that is actively investing in Southeast schools.
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