Contact: Melissa Salmanowitz (DCPS) | (202) 535-1096

The percentage of high school students who graduated from the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) in four years increased from 56 percent to 58 percent, according to new data recently released by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). The new data reflects the Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR). Nearly every high school, including neighborhood and application high schools, saw incremental growth.

“We have seen steady and incremental progress and I am pleased about this upward trajectory, but in order to meet the aggressive but achievable goals that we expect around graduation, we are making investments in our high schools for the upcoming school year that will accelerate the good working already happening, ” said DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson. “Schools are raising expectations, stepping up, and showing all of us what their students can do with the right focus. The $13 million we will spend to provide our high schools with more money, and more positions, will give our students extra help on their path to graduation, and to college and career.”

Notable Facts and Figures

Notably, three high schools saw double digit increases in their graduation rate.

• Roosevelt High School, under the leadership of Principal Ivor Mitchell, has seen impressive and consistent growth. In the 2012-2013 school year, 48 percent of Roosevelt’s seniors graduated in four years. In the 2013-2014 school year, Roosevelt saw a 14 percentage point increase, bringing their total graduation rate to 62 percent. 
• H.D. Woodson High School saw a 16 percentage point increase with Dr. Darrin Slade at the helm. In the 2012-2013 school year, 44 percent of Woodson’s students graduated in four years,  and had decreased in the previous years. In the 2013-2014 school year, H.D. Woodson saw the largest growth in graduation rate of any public high school in the District of Columbia, increasing to 60 percent. 
• The graduation rate at the Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC), led by Principal Maria Tukeva, jumped substantially this year, increasing from 73 percent to 84 percent. This reflects a significant increase from the 2010-2011 school year when the graduation rate was 69 percent. 
• Benjamin Banneker High School, under the leadership of Principal Anita Berger, was the only public school in the District of Columbia with a 100 percent four-year graduation rate. 

Transforming Neighborhood High Schools 

In the 2015-2016 school year, DCPS will focus on strengthening neighborhood high schools through significant investments in the budget. Specifically, DCPS will invest over $13 million in new funds to support high school students and improve neighborhood high schools. In the upcoming school year, every neighborhood high school will offer at least six Advanced Placement courses. Every neighborhood high school will also offer at least 20 elective courses including choir, marching band, yearbook, debate, African-American literature, accounting and SAT preparation. Currently, some neighborhood high schools offer no electives.

DCPS is investing is $1.3 million to expand opportunities to support and train more students for careers in high-wage, high-growth fields such as engineering, hospitality industries and information technology. Seven DCPS high schools offer the industry-recognized National Academy Foundation (NAF) programming in career and technical education. After only one year in place, NAF announced earlier this month that all the current programs are now certified, which is an unprecedented achievement in the first year.

BACKGROUND: The data is a measure of the Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR), required by the U.S. Department of Education.  This measures the percentage of the cohort of students who started ninth grade in the 2010-2011 school year and graduated within four years in the 2013-2014 school year. This calculation first began in the 2010-11 school year. All numbers included are comparable using this measurement.