Research · High schools - District of Columbia · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in District of Columbia? 47 Public and 31 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in District of Columbia? 47 Public and 31 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: District of Columbia has 78 high schools: 47 public and 31 private. The largest is Jackson-Reed HS in Washington, with 1,855 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in District of Columbia by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

The findings, in plain English

District of Columbia has 78 high schools. 47 are public and 31 are private. The 46 public high schools that report enrollment hold 21,941 students in grades 9 through 12 between them. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Jackson-Reed HS is the largest public high school in District of Columbia. It enrolls 1,855 students in grades 9 through 12 in Washington. The 15th largest school on the table, Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, enrolls 589. 4 of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in District of Columbia is St Johns College High School. It enrolls 1,279 students in Washington. The biggest public school in the state, Jackson-Reed HS, enrolls 1,855. Private schools report total enrollment to the federal survey, so a school that also teaches younger grades counts those students too. Only schools whose lowest grade is 9 are listed here, so each one is a high school.

The 15 largest public high schools in District of Columbia

Ranked by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Jackson-Reed HS	Washington	1,855	No
Coolidge HS	Washington	1,029	No
Columbia Heights Education Campus	Washington	1,028	No
Roosevelt HS	Washington	943	No
Eastern HS	Washington	909	No
Dunbar HS	Washington	892	No
District of Columbia International School	Washington	876	Yes
Friendship PCS - Collegiate Academy	Washington	745	Yes
McKinley Technology HS	Washington	723	No
Benjamin Banneker HS	Washington	703	No
KIPP DC PCS - Legacy College Preparatory PCS	Washington	646	Yes
KIPP DC - College Preparatory PCS	Washington	643	Yes
School Without Walls HS	Washington	606	No
Ballou HS	Washington	597	No
Duke Ellington School of the Arts	Washington	589	No

NCES Common Core of Data, grade 9-12 enrollment. Virtual schools are excluded. Absence from this list means a school is not among the largest, nothing more.

The largest private high schools in District of Columbia

Private schools whose lowest grade is 9, by total enrollment.

High school	City	Students
St Johns College High School	Washington	1,279
Gonzaga College High School	Washington	956
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School	Washington	509
Archbishop Carroll High School	Washington	383
Model Secondary School for the Deaf	Washington	101

NCES Private School Universe Survey 2021-22, respondents only. Total enrollment, not a grades 9-12 count.

What these counts cover

A high school here is a school that serves grade 12. Virtual schools are left out, because a school with no building is not comparable to one with a campus. Public counts come from the federal Common Core of Data, which every public district reports to. Private counts come from the federal Private School Universe Survey.

Enrollment for public schools is the number of students in grades 9 through 12, so a school that also teaches middle school grades is not inflated by them. A school that reports no enrollment figure is counted in the state total but cannot be ranked, which is why the number of schools with an enrollment figure is smaller than the public count.

Private high schools in District of Columbia

The private table below shows the largest private high schools whose lowest grade is 9. The survey is voluntary, so treat these as the largest among the schools that answered, not a complete ranking. A private school that declines the survey does not appear at all.

Private enrollment is a total, not a grades 9 through 12 count, because the survey does not break it out the same way. Limiting the list to schools that start at grade 9 keeps the figures comparable to each other.

What a family should do with this

Size is a starting point, not a verdict. A large school usually offers more courses, more sports and more clubs, and a small school usually gives a student more contact with the adults who write recommendation letters. Both shapes send students to good colleges.

The more useful question is where a school's own graduates actually go. Our page for each District of Columbia high school carries that school's figures and, where the school publishes one, its own numbered list of the colleges its graduates chose. Start from the school page rather than from the size of the building.

Questions parents ask

How many high schools are in District of Columbia?

District of Columbia has 78 high schools: 47 public and 31 private. The largest is Jackson-Reed HS in Washington, with 1,855 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in District of Columbia?

It enrolls 1,855 students in grades 9 through 12 in Washington.

Are private high schools included in the District of Columbia count?

47 are public and 31 are private. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Method & sources: Public school counts and grade 9-12 enrollment come from the NCES Common Core of Data; private counts and enrollment come from the NCES Private School Universe Survey, whose respondents are a floor. A high school is a school serving grade 12; virtual schools are excluded. The public table is ranked by grade 9-12 enrollment, and schools without an enrollment figure are counted in the state total but not ranked.

This brief as data: /research/high-schools-in-district-of-columbia.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).