I know many of us are still reeling from the devastating news of Wednesday’s plane crash, resulting in the loss of 67 lives. My prayers are with the countless loved ones of the victims of the crash, and our deepest gratitude is due to the District’s heroic first responders.
Scores are up at DC Schools
This week, the District received the latest National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, showing that DC students have made significant improvements in a number of areas. Often referred to as the “Nation’s Report Card,” these scores give us a sense of how well our education system is delivering for students. While we know these kinds of assessments are not the end-all be-all of how our students are doing, they are a helpful indicator of what is working and what is not. 4th grade math, in particular, was a highlight for the District, showing an 8-point gain in the average scale score for students. This is significant considering the national average gain was only 2 points.
There’s also a cohort of large cities that the District is a part of that allows us to see how our students compare to other urban districts. There, we saw an average gain of 4 points. Again, this shows that we are far out-pacing both the national average and the average of similar jurisdictions.
I encourage you to take a look at the overview of the report here. While these results are encouraging, we still have a lot of work to do. To ensure all students are succeeding, we need to see steeper increases across all subject areas. Reading in particular remains a challenging, yet critical, subject area for DC students.
The Ward 5 Wave Podcast
This week, I took some time to sit down and talk about it all with Ward 5’s State Board of Education Representative, Robert Henderson, on this week’s episode of the Ward 5 Wave. We connect about the tragedy at DCA before diving into some of the latest news on NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) Scores for DC students. We share our thoughts on the improved scores for District students and what opportunities we see for continuing the trend. I hope you’ll tune in to our conversation! Representative Henderson welcomes your thoughts and feedback at robert.henderson@dc.gov.
The Ward 5 Awards Ceremony – Please RSVP!
The Ward 5 Awards Selection Committee is meeting to select the winners of the Ward 5 Awards, and we want to see you at the ceremony to celebrate these remarkable neighbors! Please join us for this night of community on February 11 at 7:00 p.m. at Ivy City Smokehouse (1356 Okie St NE) by registering here.
This edition of the Ward 5 Weekly newsletter includes public safety updates, details about the Taylor Street Bikeway Open House, tomorrow, February 1, DDOT’s E-Bike Incentive Program which returns tomorrow, February 1, the Noyes Park Community Garden Lottery which closes tomorrow, February 1, Notices of Intent modifying traffic/parking requirements in Ward 5, a school lottery parent mixer in Brookland on February 3 along with a reminder that the My School DC lottery for Grades 9-12 closes on Feburary 3, Metro’s survey and public hearings on their FY26 budget proposal, a meeting with DPR about capital projects in Ward 5 on February 10, DC Public Library’s updates on the site selection process for a new library in Eckington/Edgewood, programs to benefit from including the Marion Barry Summer Youth Employment Program which began accepting applications on Monday, January 27, and community events including the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade on Sunday, February 2!
