The top reported proficiency rate is 19% in English language arts. The lowest is 6% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Excel Academy
Excel Academy sits on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Southeast Washington, in the heart of Ward 8, and serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade as a regular public school within District of Columbia Public Schools. The enrollment is small for a school spanning that many grades, with fairly even distribution across the grade bands. The student body is almost entirely Black, with a very small number of Hispanic and white students. The school is not a charter and not a magnet; it is a neighborhood regular school operating under the DCPS system.
Academic results from the most recent state assessment cycle are low. In math, a very small fraction of tested students in grades three through eight met or exceeded expectations. In English language arts, the share meeting that bar was higher but still well below what most families would hope to see. Science results from the prior assessment cycle, for fifth and eighth grade, were also very low, with no students in either tested grade reaching proficiency. These are not borderline numbers; they reflect a school where the majority of students are not yet performing at grade-level standards. A parent considering Excel Academy would want to sit down with school leadership and ask directly what the academic plan is, how intervention works, and what the path to improvement looks like. The school's results are a fact worth taking seriously, not a reason to walk away without asking questions.
Several data points that would help a parent evaluate this school are missing. Free or reduced-price lunch counts were not available, so the economic profile of the student body is not something we can characterize from the data. Special education and English learner rates were also missing. No staffing figures, course access details, attendance patterns, or discipline data were provided, so we cannot speak to class sizes, teacher experience, or program offerings. There is no graduation rate because Excel Academy does not serve high school grades, which is expected for a pre-K through eighth-grade school.
The surrounding community is Anacostia-adjacent Southeast, an area shaped by D.C.'s broader identity as a federal government town. The city's economy runs on federal employment, international organizations, and a dense ecosystem of associations and lobbying firms, but that economic engine has historically reached Ward 8 unevenly. Housing in the school's zip code is more affordable than the D.C. statewide benchmark, with typical home values sitting well below the citywide figure and showing a modest year-over-year decline. Rents are also below what much of the city commands. For a family already in the neighborhood, this is one of the more accessible corners of the District in terms of housing cost. For a family considering moving here for the school, the academic results make that a harder case.
DCPS as a district has made moves that touch Excel Academy. The district's five-year strategic plan, publicly reported as A Capital Commitment, focuses on academic success, student connection, and post-secondary preparation across all DCPS schools. A new district-wide cell phone restriction takes effect in the current school year, tied to recent legislation, aimed at reducing classroom distraction. In Southeast specifically, DCPS recently opened a new middle school addition at Leckie Education Campus in Ward 8, adding middle-grade capacity in the same part of the city. Whether those district-level shifts reach into Excel Academy's classrooms in a way that changes the academic trajectory is something a parent should ask about directly.
What Excel Academy offers is a small, neighborhood-rooted, pre-K-through-eighth-grade environment in a part of the city where housing is relatively affordable and the community has deep ties. What it does not yet show in the available data is strong academic outcomes. The proficiency numbers are the central fact here. A family looking at this school should treat them as the starting question, not the final answer, and should ask the school what is changing and how fast.
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