Demand for out-of-school time programming shifts, based on where students live versus where they go to school

Out-of-school time (OST) programs, such as afterschool and summer programs, are important to many families the District of Columbia. Policy decisions around OST programming, like where OST seat are located, and how the city invests funding, are highly dependent on where children live and where they go to school. To set the stage for a deeper analysis of out-of-school time programs, this article examines where students live, where they attend school, and how these vary both geographically across the city, and by various student characteristics.

About this series
This publication is part of a series adapted from our full report commissioned by the District of Columbia Deputy Mayor for Education (DME), Needs assessment of out-of-school time programs in the District of Columbia.

Other publications in this series include:

Access the underlying original report in printable PDF format here.

Where OST programs are located, and where funding is invested, is highly dependent on where children live and where they go to school. For example, having OST programs at or around schools could create the best access for afterschool and before school programming, especially for younger students. In contrast, families might prefer having programming close to where students live during the summer.

By these different metrics and associated goals, the placement of OST seats could vary dramatically. That is because of two things. First, public school students are unevenly distributed across the city. Second, many students attend a school outside of their neighborhood.

Using public school enrollment information, this article examines where students live, where they attend school, and how student residence and school location vary across the city and with various student characteristics. The analyses are based on student-level data for public school enrollments for school year 2021-22, aggregated at the ward and neighborhood cluster level for students enrolled in PK3 through Grade 12^¹ and broken down by students’ race and ethnicity, at-risk status, special education needs, and English learner status. This information is presented separately for PK3 through grade 8 (elementary and middle school) and grades 9 through 12 (high school).^²

For school year 2021-22,^³ audited student level data capture 89,905 students who were enrolled in the District’s public schools (DCPS and public charter schools) across grades PK3 through 12.^⁴ Of these, 68,888 students were enrolled at the elementary or middle school level, and 19,017 were enrolled in high schools.^⁵

Public school students by their residence

Public school students are unevenly distributed across the District’s eight wards and 46 neighborhood clusters (39 clusters are residential and seven are typically nonresidential clusters).^⁶ Distribution of students across wards and neighborhoods follows zoning patterns, housing characteristics, and housing values, which, in turn, shape the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of neighborhoods. While each ward is administratively drawn to hold about the same size population, the population of school age children across wards (and neighborhoods), and public school participation, can vary greatly.

Public school students by ward and neighborhood of residence, school year 2021-22

In school year 2021-22, Wards 7 and 8 were home to 44 percent of elementary and middle school students and 43 percent of high school students. Wards 4 and 5 followed, with 31 percent of elementary and middle school students, and 33 percent of high schoolers. Only about 3 percent of students live in Ward 2 (which is about the same as the share of school aged children who live in this Ward).^⁷ Ward 3 is home to 6 percent of students while Ward 6 holds 7 percent. In both of these wards, private school participation is relatively high (an estimated 49 percent in Ward 3, and 38 percent in Ward 6).

Maps drawn with the same information at the neighborhood cluster level show that public school students live is even more concentrated that ward level maps reveal. For example, nearly a quarter of public school students live in three neighborhood clusters and are home to about more than seven percent of public school students.^⁸ Three others each hold five to seven percent of students.^⁹ In contrast, in 25 out of the 39 residential neighborhood clusters, mostly concentrated in the western half of the city, only about 2 percent of public school students live. These clusters are generally parts of the city that look suburban, dominated by single family homes located in large lots.

Race and ethnicity

Broken down by race and ethnicity, 64 percent of public elementary and middle school students and
67 percent of high school students are Black, and the majority of these students live in Wards 7 or 8. (60
percent of public school students who are Black live in one of these wards.) In contrast, Wards 2, 3, and 6 collectively account for only 13 percent of Black public school students. Hispanic or Latino students make up the second largest group, and account for about 17 percent of public school students. They are most concentrated in Wards 1, 3, and 5. White students make up about 13 percent of the public student body, and are concentrated in Wards 3, 4, and 6.

Public school students by race/ethnicity and residence of ward, school year 2021-22

Mapping where students live at the neighborhood cluster level more clearly captures the degree of
housing segregation across the city. There are only two neighborhoods that hold a significant share of students from different races and ethnicities (but not Black students): the Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, Pleasant Plains, Park View cluster in Ward 1, and the Brightwood Park, Crestwood, Petworth cluster in Ward 4. Black students are concentrated in five neighborhoods in Wards 7 and 8, and white students are concentrated in three neighborhoods in Ward 3, in addition to Columbia Heights, Brightwood, Petworth, and neighborhoods around Capitol Hill.

D.C. public school students by race and ethnicity, and neighborhood of their residence, school year 2021-22

At-risk status

Students who receive the statutory “at-risk” designation for funding purposes include those who are
experiencing homelessness, in the foster care system, qualify for TANF or SNAP programs, and over-age high school students.

In the District, 47 percent of students who attend elementary or middle schools (32,722 students) are designated as at-risk. Given this significant share, the residential distribution of at-risk students mostly
resembles the distribution of the entire public student body. However, because of how at-risk is defined,
students in this category are even more concentrated in lower-income parts of the District of Columbia, in Wards 7 and 8.

Ward 8, for example, is home to 24 percent of the students enrolled at an elementary or secondary
school, but 36 percent of the at-risk students enrolled at the same level. In contrast, Ward 3 holds 7 percent of students enrolled at an elementary or secondary school, but only one percent of at-risk students at this level. At the neighborhood level, Congress Heights, Bellevue, Washington Highlands cluster is home to 14 percent of at-risk students attending elementary or middle school. This is twice the share in the next highest-concentration neighborhood (the neighboring Douglas, Shipley Terrace cluster, which holds 7.3 percent of at-risk students at this band).

D.C. public school students designated as at-risk by ward and neighborhood of residence, school year 2021-22

Students with special education needs

During school year 2021-22, 13,214 students across all grade bands (or 15 percent of public school students) were identified as students with special education needs. Of these students, 9,927 (three quarters of all students with special education needs) were enrolled at an elementary or middle school, and 3,287 were enrolled at a high school. The distribution of students with special education needs across wards and neighborhoods resembles the overall student distribution, with Wards 7 and 8 holding a significantly higher concentration of students with special education needs compared to the entire public school student body.

D.C. public school students with special education needs, by ward and neighborhood of residence, school year 2021-22

English learners

The 11,240 students who were identified as English learners made up about 13 percent of all public school students during school year 2021-22. These students were heavily concentrated at the elementary and middle school levels (85 percent of English learners are enrolled at the PK3 to grade 8 band). This is likely because students who enroll in D.C. public schools and public charter schools at early grades eventually exit out of the English learner status as they move to upper grades.

English learners, by ward and neighborhood of residence, school year 2021-22

The geographic distribution of English learners is unique, with these students heavily concentrated in three wards (Wards 1, 4, and 5) and especially in three adjoining neighborhoods. Ward 4 alone is home to over 40 percent of English learners, and the three neighborhoods that begin at Takoma in the northeastern border of the city and span through Columbia Heights in the south collectively account for over 60 percent of English learners who attend public schools in the District.

Public school students by the location of their school

For OST programs, where students attend school matters as much as where students live. This is
especially true for afterschool programs at earlier grades since programs located at the students’ school
(or within an easy and safe walking distance of a school) might be the most convenient options.

School and attendance characteristics by ward, school year 2021-22

In the District of Columbia, where students attend school looks very different from where they live. This is the case for a number of related reasons:

First, many public schools accept students from all wards and neighborhoods: fewer than half of D.C. public schools and public charter schools—98 out of 249 — are by-right schools, with seats guaranteed for students who live in a boundary area.^¹⁰
Second, only 28 percent of public school students attend their in-boundary by-right school; 46 percent attend charter schools, and 27 percent attend city-wide DCPS schools or a DCPS school other than their by-right school. There are no byright high schools in Wards 2 and 6.
Third, schools that accept out-of-boundary students (charters and citywide schools) are not distributed evenly across the city. Wards 1, 2, and 3 have relatively fewer schools, whereas Ward 5 has 42 elementary and middle schools, and Ward 7 has 8 middle schools. This distribution reflects the availability of school facilities, which is an important factor for charter schools.
Finally, the presence of charter and city-wide DCPS schools bring to a ward or neighborhood a lot of students from other parts of the city. Across Ward 5 high schools, for example, 92 percent of students are attending a school other than their by-right school, although only 28 percent live in Ward 5. In contrast, across all schools located in Ward 8, 64 percent of all high school students are are enrolled in a school other than their by-right school, but 80 percent of students also live in Ward 8.

These varying distances between where students live and where students attend school is an important
consideration for OST programs.

The ward and neighborhood cluster level maps of where students attend school look different from where students live. The largest share of elementary and middle school students attend public schools
located in Wards 5 and 8 (18 percent), followed by Ward 4 (17%). At the high school level, schools located in Ward 4 enroll the largest share of students followed by Ward 5. Wards 7 and 8 stand out because a large share of students who live in these wards attend a school outside of their ward of residence. Ward 8 is home to 27 percent of public school students attending high school, but Ward 8 schools enroll only 10 percent of public school students at this grade band.

Distribution of public school students across wards, by ward of the school they attend, school year 2021-22

Distribution of public school students by the neighborhood of the school they attend, school year 2021-22

At the neighborhood level, student school locations are even more concentrated than where students live. The Edgewood, Bloomingdale, Truxton Circle, Eckington cluster alone holds eleven elementary or middle charter schools, and two DCPS schools including a city-wide middle school. The Tenleytown, Friendship Heights, AU Park in west of Rock Creek Park, cluster also lights up on the map because it is the home to Jackson-Reed High School, the largest high school in the city with over 2,000 students.