Summary:
Thurgood Marshall Academy PCS is the only school in the Thurgood Marshall Academy PCS district, a public charter high school in Washington, DC serving grades 9–12 with 373 students and a 10.9:1 student-teacher ratio. This single-school district spends a substantial $38,343 per student, far above typical levels, yet academic outcomes are deeply concerning across nearly every measure.
Most alarming is mathematics proficiency: only 4.8% of students scored proficient on the DC CAPE math assessment in 2025–2026, compared to 28.2% statewide. Algebra I proficiency sits at 5.5% and geometry at just 4.2%, meaning more than 95% of students are not meeting math standards. English Language Arts proficiency also dropped sharply from 24.9% in 2024–2025 to 15.9% in 2025–2026, with English II scores collapsing from 30.4% to 12.9% in a single year. The school’s graduation rate of 74.4% is 4.3 points below the DC average of 78.7%. In the most recent ranking, the school placed 40th out of 46 DC districts/schools, falling to the 19th percentile with a 1-star rating — a steep decline from the prior year’s 3-star, 49th-percentile performance.
Despite its high per-student spending and low class sizes, academic returns are poor, suggesting resources may not be translating into student gains. The school did improve modestly between 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 before reversing course, which adds to the unpredictability. No free or reduced lunch data is reported, so it is difficult to account for economic factors. For parents, this school offers small class sizes and intensive funding, but test scores and graduation rates are well below state averages, and the recent drop in English proficiency is a serious red flag that demands attention.
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