Benjamin Banneker HS

Washington · DC · District of Columbia Public Schools · Public


📚AP rigor: 82nd percentile nationally 📖12 AP courses 🎓97% 4-yr grad rate

🧭 A parent's read

  • 97% graduate on time. Nearly every student who starts 9th grade here finishes in four years — the strongest baseline signal a school can post.
  • Course rigor in the top 18% of US high schools. 12 AP courses plus advanced math and lab-science depth — measured against every high school in the country, not just the neighborhood.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 12 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 🔢 1 calculus classes · 5 physics · 7 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 82nd percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 59th percentile by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 97% (90th percentile nationally)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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💡

How Benjamin Banneker HS compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 18% nationally with 12 AP courses.
  • LocallyDC trails the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (−12 points). Stronger local schools matter even more.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: McKinley Technology HS, KIPP DC - College Preparatory PCS, School Without Walls HS and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

82nd percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
12
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
329
≈47 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
7
1 calculus · 6 advanced
Lab science classes
12
5 physics · 7 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

59th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
96
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
13.7
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

90th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
97%
Range: 95–100%
4-year cohort size
92
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
3.2%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
61.3%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
1.1%
Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.
Students absent 15+ days
8
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
234:1
Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.
Counselor FTE
3.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
35
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 113 in 2021 to 128 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+13.3%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +10.0%/year, projecting from 2024's 703 students:

2025
773
2027
936
2029
1,134

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue upside

At $33,365 per student in district revenue, the 431 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $14,380,315/year in additional funding.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
McKinley Technology HS
Washington
Public 1.1 723 +4.6%
KIPP DC - College Preparatory PCS
Washington
Public · charter 1.6 643 -25.9%
School Without Walls HS
Washington
Public 1.6 606 +1.5%
Friendship PCS - Collegiate Academy
Washington
Public · charter 4.3 745 +13.9%
Cardozo Education Campus
Washington
Public 0.7 561 +26.1%
Dunbar HS
Washington
Public 0.7 892 +22.5%
Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Washington
Public 2.4 589 +1.7%
KIPP DC PCS - Legacy College Preparatory PCS
Washington
Public · charter 5.7 646 +152.3%

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