Summary:
Located in Washington, D.C., the KIPP Dc Pcs charter district operates two high schools serving grades 9–12: KIPP DC PCS - Legacy College Preparatory PCS and KIPP DC - College Preparatory PCS. Both schools have nearly identical enrollments (about 645 students each) and share the same district ranking of 33rd out of 46 DC districts, earning 2 stars.
The clear standout is KIPP DC - College Preparatory PCS, which outpaces its sister school on nearly every measure. It earned a 3-star rating and ranked 16th out of 36 DC high schools (56th percentile) in 2025–2026, while KIPP DC PCS - Legacy College Preparatory PCS earned 2 stars and ranked 23rd (36th percentile). College Prep’s all-grades ELA proficiency is 31.9% versus 21.5% at Legacy, and its English II proficiency (37.6%) nearly matches the state average of 38.0%. Legacy, however, showed the biggest improvement, jumping from the 14th to 36th percentile in one year and moving from 1 star to 2 stars. Both schools boast identical graduation rates of 86.4%, well above the DC state average of 78.7%.
The most urgent concern for both schools is math. Legacy’s math proficiency is just 2.7% and College Prep’s is 5.8%, compared to the state average of 28.2%. In Algebra I, only 1 in 40 Legacy students and 1 in 26 College Prep students are proficient. College Prep also saw its math proficiency drop from 10.1% to 5.8% year over year, driven largely by a steep decline in Algebra I. Science proficiency is also very low, with College Prep at 2.1% on the DC Science End of Course exam. Notably, Legacy spends about $3,000 more per student ($34,784 vs. $31,788) and has a smaller student–teacher ratio, yet achieves lower test scores, showing that spending and staffing alone don't determine outcomes. Both schools are trending upward in overall ranking, but math achievement remains a critical area for improvement.
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