Best High Schools in Zip Code 20003

The three high schools serving zip code 20003 in Washington, DC—Eastern High School, Digital Pioneers Academy PCS – Capitol Hill, and the DC Department of Corrections—all serve grades 9 through 12 but represent very different educational models: a large traditional public school, a mid-sized charter school, and a small facility-based jail education program. Among the two schools serving the general public, Digital Pioneers Academy PCS – Capitol Hill is the clear academic standout, with a higher graduation rate, stronger test proficiency in both English Language Arts and math, and a better school ranking than Eastern High School. Eastern, which belongs to District of Columbia Public Schools, is the largest school in the area with 909 students, but its academic performance is far below state averages.

In 2024–2025, Digital Pioneers Academy posted a graduation rate of 82.7% compared to Eastern’s 79.0%, and it outperformed Eastern in every test category. For example, in 2025–2026 math proficiency, Digital Pioneers reached 9.3% while Eastern fell to just 1.8%. End-of-course exams show even wider gaps: Eastern’s Geometry proficiency is 1.0% and Algebra I is 2.5%, versus 9.0% and 9.6% at Digital Pioneers. However, both schools trail state averages, and both saw declines in test scores from the prior year. Digital Pioneers spends more per student ($32,602) than Eastern ($27,944), yet Eastern actually has a lower student–teacher ratio (10.7 vs. 15.7). The DC Department of Corrections, part of the DC Jail Education Program, has just 45 students and a very low 3.0 student–teacher ratio, but no academic outcome data is available for this unique setting.

The most striking finding is the math crisis at Eastern High School, where proficiency in 2025–2026 is nearly zero and its school-level ranking dropped from the 34th percentile to the 11th percentile in one year. Meanwhile, Digital Pioneers Academy maintains a middle-of-the-pack ranking but still struggles to reach state averages in math and reading. Interestingly, both mainstream schools graduate students at rates near or above the state average despite low test scores, suggesting that graduation pathways may not fully reflect academic proficiency. Parents in this area should weigh the strong graduation outcomes and relatively better performance at Digital Pioneers against the significant academic challenges, particularly in mathematics, at Eastern High School.