The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in Science. The lowest is 6% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Shining Stars Montessori Academy Pcs
Shining Stars Montessori Academy is a public charter school in Northeast Washington serving children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. It sits on Randolph Street in the Brookland area, a residential corner of the city with a mix of row houses and smaller apartment buildings. The surrounding zip code carries home values somewhat below the District's broader median and rents that sit in a moderate band for the city, making it one of the more accessible parts of Washington for families priced out of wealthier corridors. The school itself occupies a modest footprint, with an enrollment that skews heavily toward the early grades. Pre-kindergarten alone accounts for a large share of the student body, and the upper elementary grades thin out considerably by fifth and sixth grade, which is typical of Montessori programs that lose families to larger middle-school options as children age.
The student population is predominantly Black, with a substantial Hispanic minority and a small white and Asian presence. The school does not report free-or-reduced-price lunch data, IEP rates, or English-learner figures, so it is hard to gauge from the available data how the school serves its most vulnerable students or whether specialized supports are a part of the model. A parent may want to ask the school directly about those services.
Academically, the state testing results for grades three through eight are low in both subjects the state reports. In math, a small fraction of tested students met or exceeded expectations, and in English language arts the share was only modestly higher. A separate science result from an earlier year, based on a very small number of fifth-grade test-takers, showed a similar pattern. These are proficiency rates well below what most DC charters post. Because the tested population is small, results can swing widely from year to year, but the consistency across subjects and years suggests this is a genuine area of weakness rather than a statistical fluke. A parent considering this school should look closely at how the school frames academic outcomes and what interventions or curricular adjustments are underway. The data does not include trend lines, so it is unclear whether proficiency is improving or declining over time.
What the school does offer is a clear pedagogical identity. Montessori education emphasizes self-directed work, mixed-age classrooms, and hands-on materials rather than direct instruction and testing. For families drawn to that philosophy, the school provides a continuous Montessori pathway from age three through sixth grade, which is relatively unusual in the DC charter sector. The school also expanded its dual-language Spanish immersion program to extend through the upper elementary grades, giving families who want bilingual education an option that runs the full length of the school's grade span. That expansion is a meaningful programmatic commitment and one of the school's clearest strengths.
Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and that gap simply reflects the grade band. The same is true for college-readiness metrics. Civil-rights data, discipline figures, staffing counts, and attendance rates were not available in the provided material, so those dimensions of school climate cannot be assessed here. A family visiting the school would want to ask about classroom ratios, teacher retention, and how the school handles behavior and inclusion within a Montessori frame.
The surrounding community context is Washington itself, a city shaped by the federal government, with embassies, international institutions, and a large professional workforce. Brookland, where the school is located, is a quieter, more residential part of Northeast, with Catholic University and the Franciscan Monastery nearby. The area has transit access and a neighborhood-scale commercial strip rather than dense downtown density. For a family weighing this school, the decision likely comes down to philosophy. Families committed to Montessori and dual-language education may find the continuous pathway appealing, but the proficiency data is a real consideration and should be weighed carefully alongside what the school can show about growth, classroom culture, and how it supports children who are working below grade level.
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