Summary:
Zip code 20009 in Washington, DC is served by a single high school, Cardozo Education Campus, which spans grades 6 through 12 as part of the District of Columbia Public Schools.
Cardozo stands out for its combination of very high spending and very low academic results. The school spends $33,292 per student and maintains a strong 9:1 student–teacher ratio, yet it has earned a 1-star rating for three straight years, placing it in the bottom quarter of DC high schools. Only 19.2% of students are proficient in English language arts, and math proficiency is crisis-level at just 3.4%. Science proficiency is even more alarming, with only 1.23% of students meeting standards. By comparison, the district averages are 44.1% for ELA and 33.3% for math, so Cardozo trails far behind on every subject. The graduation rate of 70.7% also lags the DCPS average of 77.6%, meaning roughly 3 in 10 students do not graduate on time.
There are small signs of improvement: ELA proficiency rose from 15.0% to 19.2% and math from 2.4% to 3.4% between the 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 school years, and the state percentile improved from 11th to 22nd. However, these gains are far too modest to change the school’s overall standing. Since this is the only high school in the zip code, there are no nearby public school alternatives within 20009 for comparison. Parents should be aware that while the school benefits from small class sizes and significant funding, the urgent challenges lie in foundational math and science skills, especially at the middle school level, and in improving overall academic outcomes for all students.
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