The top reported proficiency rate is 35% in English language arts. The lowest is 14% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Social Justice Pcs
Social Justice PCS is a public charter middle school in Washington, D.C., serving grades five through eight. It opened in August 2020 in Ward 5 as a new educational option built around social justice, scholar-activism, and design thinking. The school describes its academic model as rooted in culturally responsive learning, expeditionary learning, and restorative justice, with a STEM focus and a close-knit community structure called Crew. Enrollment is intentionally small, allowing for personalized attention in a setting designed so students feel known and challenged. The school's population is overwhelmingly Black, with a smaller Hispanic share, and no students identified as white, Asian, or multiracial in the reported data. Free-or-reduced-price lunch figures were not available, so the economic profile of the student body cannot be characterized from the data provided. IEP and English-learner counts were also missing.
On the most recent D.C. assessments, the school's results are mixed. In English language arts, roughly a third of students met or exceeded expectations, which is a modest showing but stronger relative to the school's math performance. In math, proficiency was quite low, with only a small fraction of students meeting the bar. Science results from the prior testing cycle were reported in ranges rather than precise figures, and those ranges sat at the very bottom of the scale, with no students recorded as proficient in either fifth or eighth grade science. Participation rates on those science tests were high. A parent weighing this school may want to look into the math and science outcomes further with school leadership, asking how the curriculum and instructional supports are structured to move students toward proficiency.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. No neighbor comparison data was provided for this entity, so its position relative to nearby D.C. charter or traditional schools cannot be rendered here. Program offerings beyond the pedagogical model were limited in the data; the school lists restorative justice and STEM focus as specialized programs, but course-level access details, staffing ratios, discipline data, and attendance figures were not available.
The school sits on Third Street NE in the 20011 zip code, a residential part of Upper Northeast Washington. Housing values in this zip code run above the national benchmark and modestly above the D.C. state benchmark, with a slight year-over-year decline. Rents are in line with the broader Washington market, with a small recent uptick. The surrounding city is shaped by the federal government, which dominates employment, along with embassies, international institutions, nonprofits, and lobbying firms. Washington's built environment follows the L'Enfant Plan, with broad diagonal avenues, traffic circles, and the National Mall serving as the central civic axis. Ward 5, where the school is located, is one of the city's many distinct neighborhoods, with its own commercial and residential character separate from the monumental core. The D.C. Public Library system and WMATA transit connect neighborhoods across the city.
What this school offers is a mission-driven, intentionally small middle-grades environment centered on social justice themes and restorative practices. Families drawn to that framing and to a close-knit community may find the approach appealing, particularly given the emphasis on scholar-activism and design thinking. The academic data, though, shows real distance to travel in math and science, and a parent would want to understand how the school plans to strengthen those areas before committing.
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