In the District, public school students can enroll in their DCPS in-boundary school or participate in the school lottery to enroll in a DCPS out of boundary, DCPS citywide school, DCPS application high school, or a public charter school. Just over half of all public school students enrolled in any type of DCPS school in SY2023-24 (52%) and just under half (48%) enrolled in a public charter school. Differentiating within the different types of DCPS schools, in SY2023-24, 26% of all public school students attended their in-boundary DCPS school, 19% at DCPS out of boundary, and 7% at the remaining three other types of DCPS schools.
The vizualization below allows the user to disaggregate by grade level as well. For instance, in SY2023-24, the share of PK through 12th grade students at DCPS was 55% and 45% at public charter schools.
Enrollment by Sector
Source: OSSE Audited Enrollment, SY13-14 to SY23-24
Wards 7 and 8 are home to the greatest number of PK through 12 grade public school students, and they exceed the citywide public charter enrollment average at 53% and 56%, respectively. Ward 5 PK through 12 grade students had the greatest share of public charter enrollment at 57%. Public school students living in Ward 3 tend to enroll in their in-boundary DCPS school over other types of DCPS or public charter schools. Ward 3 has the highest share of in boundary enrollment in the city (79%) but Ward 4 has the greatest number of students attending their in boundary school.
Students living in neighborhood clusters west and directly south of Rock Creek Park have higher rates of enrollment at their in DCPS in-boundary school than their peers elsewhere in Washington, DC. Students living in neighborhood clusters in the northeast and southeast quadrants have higher rates of enrollment in the other types of DCPS lottery schools (i.e., out of boundary, citywide, application, and alternative) and public charter schools than elsewhere in the city. Patterns vary slightly by grade level, particularly in middle school.
Enrollment by Sector and Geography
Source: OSSE Audited Enrollment, SY13-14 to SY23-24
