Best Public Schools in Zip Code 20020

ZIP code 20020 in Washington, DC contains 23 schools — 17 elementary, 4 middle, and 2 high schools — serving 7,264 students across 13 District of Columbia Public Schools and 10 public charter schools. The area includes early-childhood charters like I Dream PCS and KIPP DC - Discover Academy PCS with as few as 99 students, up to Turner Elementary School, the largest school with 461 students, for an average size of about 316 students per school.

The clear academic standout is DC Prep PCS - Anacostia Middle School, ranked 17th of 67 middle schools with 4 stars, posting 37.3% ELA and 27.8% math proficiency — nearly matching state averages. Stanton Elementary School is the only school in the ZIP to exceed the state average in math (30.3% vs. 28.2%) and ranks 58th of 124 elementary schools. Garfield Elementary School made the biggest ranking jump, rising from the 19th to 48th percentile in one year. Moten Elementary School posted the highest elementary ELA score (26.8%) and the best 5th-grade science in the area. Among high schools, Anacostia High School leads with a 76.4% graduation rate and improved from 34th to 21st of 36 in ranking. At the other end, Savoy Elementary School ranks 121st of 124 elementary schools, and Kramer Middle School ranks last among middle schools with just 1.9% math proficiency.

The ZIP faces a systemic proficiency gap — roughly 22 points below the state in ELA and 14 points below in math — with no school meeting the state ELA average. The middle school divide is stark: DC Prep students are more than 14 times more likely to be proficient in math than Kramer students. Early-grade gains often fade by 5th grade, as seen at Lawrence E. Boone Elementary School, where 3rd-grade math proficiency drops from 23.3% to 4.6% by 5th grade. Per-student spending ranges from $25,369 at KIPP DC - Heights Academy PCS to $46,589 at Anacostia High School, yet spending shows no clear relationship to performance. While both high schools graduate below the state average of 78.7%, Anacostia's recent improvement offers a bright spot for families exploring options in this area.