Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Washington · DC · District of Columbia Public Schools · Public
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
School Without Walls HS → Cardozo Education Campus → KIPP DC - College Preparatory PCS → Benjamin Banneker HS → Ballou HS → McKinley Technology HS → Goodwill Excel Center PCS → H.D. Woodson HS →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. 13 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
- 13 AP courses offered — Elite
- Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- 1 calculus classes · 2 physics · 9 chemistry
- AP rigor: 82nd percentile nationally
- SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 49% by test-taker volume
- 4-yr grad rate: 97% in 2019 (90th percentile nationally)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
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How Duke Ellington School of the Arts compares for families
Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor in the top 18% nationally with 13 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: School Without Walls HS, Cardozo Education Campus, KIPP DC - College Preparatory PCS and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth
82nd percentile nationally
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 · 2020-21Bottom 49% by test-taker volume
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
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
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
Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 total enrollment.
Counselor capacity
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
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of +0.8%/year, projecting from 2024's 589 students:
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 23 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $767,395/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.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| School Without Walls HS Washington |
Public | 1.6 | 606 | +1.5% |
| Cardozo Education Campus Washington |
Public | 2.3 | 561 | +26.1% |
| KIPP DC - College Preparatory PCS Washington |
Public · charter | 4.1 | 643 | -25.9% |
| Benjamin Banneker HS Washington |
Public | 2.4 | 703 | +30.9% |
| Ballou HS Washington |
Public | 6.4 | 597 | -6.1% |
| McKinley Technology HS Washington |
Public | 3.6 | 723 | +4.6% |
| Goodwill Excel Center PCS Washington |
Public · charter | 1.9 | 440 | +3.3% |
| H.D. Woodson HS Washington |
Public | 8.0 | 579 | +21.1% |
At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantDuke Ellington School of the Arts is a public high school in Washington, DC, enrolling 589 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Enrollment is down 8% from 2021 to 2024.
It offers 13 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 82% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).
65 students took the SAT or ACT in the most recent federal count, a participation level above 49% of U.S. high schools.
Its federal four-year graduation rate was about 97% in the latest EDFacts release.
It has about 294 students per school counselor.
28% of its students were chronically absent in 2020.
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (enrollment), the federal Civil Rights Data Collection and EDFacts, state education agencies where named, and the school's own published documents where named.
Questions families ask
How many AP courses does Duke Ellington School of the Arts offer? Duke Ellington School of the Arts offers 13 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 82% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).
What is Duke Ellington School of the Arts's graduation rate? Duke Ellington School of the Arts's federal four-year graduation rate was about 97% in the latest EDFacts release.
How many students attend Duke Ellington School of the Arts? Duke Ellington School of the Arts is a public high school in Washington, DC, enrolling 589 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
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Related reading
AP courses · October 2026
Test scores · October 2026