The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in English language arts. The lowest is 6% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Dc Prep Pcs - Benning Ms
DC Prep PCS - Benning MS is a public charter school in Northeast Washington, serving grades four through eight. It sits on 41st Street NE in the 20019 zip code, east of the Anacostia River, part of the DC Prep charter network. The school is small for its grade band, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across the five grades it serves. Its student body is almost entirely Black, with a small Hispanic presence and a handful of students identified as two or more races. Data on free or reduced-price lunch, special education, and English learner status was not reported, so it is hard to gauge the full economic and support picture from what is available.
On the most recent DC assessments, English language arts is the school's relative strength. Roughly two-fifths of students met or exceeded expectations in ELA, which is a better showing than the school's other tested subjects. Math was weaker, with about a quarter of students reaching proficiency. Science results, drawn from an earlier testing cycle, were quite low in both fifth and eighth grade, the two grade levels where science is assessed. A parent considering this school may want to ask how science instruction is structured across the grade bands and what supports are in place, particularly given how few students demonstrated proficiency. There is no multi-year trend data available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability. Participation rates in science testing were strong, which suggests the low scores reflect actual performance rather than a testing gap.
Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. That is expected for a grade four through eight campus and should not be read as a missing indicator of weak outcomes.
The locale brief provided for this school covers Washington, D.C. as a whole rather than the Benning neighborhood specifically, so it offers limited help in understanding the immediate area around the campus. What can be said is that the school's zip code has typical home values well below the District's overall benchmark, sitting closer to the national figure. Those values have been declining modestly year over year. Rents in the zip code are relatively modest by D.C. standards. For a family thinking about where to live while attending this school, housing costs near campus are more accessible than much of the city, though the downward trend in values may reflect broader economic pressures in this part of the District.
Several categories of information that parents often rely on were absent. No data was available on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, or attendance. Program offerings, such as extracurriculars, arts, or advanced coursework, were not reported. There is no neighbor comparison fact-set for this school, so it cannot be positioned against nearby campuses using the comparison framework. The district brief for DC Prep PCS turned up little in the way of recently reported changes or initiatives, so there is nothing to relay on that front.
What the available picture does convey is a small, community-rooted charter middle school serving a nearly entirely Black student population in a part of the city where housing is comparatively affordable. Its ELA results are the brightest spot, its math results are middling, and its science results are a clear soft spot that warrants follow-up. Families drawn to a smaller setting within the DC Prep network, and those already living in or near the Benning area, may find it worth a closer look, especially if they can get answers on the data gaps around student support services and science instruction.
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