DC Public Schools sees highest enrollment ever ahead of 2024 EdFEST

WASHINGTON - New data released Tuesday reveals that public and charter schools in D.C. are nearing 100,000 students enrolled, which marks the highest number since they began tracking. It is also the third straight year for increases.

Preliminary numbers show 99,770 students enrolled in the district for the 2024-2025 school year, which includes both D.C. public schools and public charter schools.

That's an increase of 1,121 students from last school year.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Antoinette Mitchell said the rising numbers are excellent news and shows that families are confident in the D.C. public school system, adding that many of the new students appear to be high schoolers.

"Which is very exciting to us because our high schools are in the midst of a renaissance in some ways. With career and technical education, we have new standards," Dr. Mitchell said. "Just really excited about all the opportunities and families seem to be attracted to our high schools."

Dr. Mitchell also applauded D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's historic investments in education, pointing to a 12% increase for education funding in the fiscal year 2025 budget, translating to roughly $350 million.

"An investment in schools in an investment in the city," Dr. Mitchell said. "It really speaks to families finding the opportunities that we have in the D.C. school system attractive."

In the last decade, total enrollment within D.C. schools has jumped more than 14 percent.

Dr. Mitchell said those increases have ripple effects for all students in the District, allowing them to offer programming they couldn't before, along with focusing on career and technical education. Their data also points to a downward trend in chronic absenteeism and chronic truancy, which have plagued the system in the past.

The head of the Washington Teachers' Union, Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, has been with the district for 31 years. She told FOX 5 that public school enrollment in cities like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles have been down post-pandemic, so D.C.'s numbers are a positive sign and a testament to the great educators here.

"I've done everything from being a kindergarten teacher, an ELL teacher, taught everywhere from northwest to southeast and it's been rewarding and I have always known D.C. public schools are special and our educators are great, so I'm happy to see the numbers increasing," said Pogue Lyons.

Since this data is preliminary and the final numbers are expected in the spring, Dr. Mitchell said they don't have a clear picture of where exactly the students are coming from.

Chelsea Coffin is the director of the education policy initiative at the D.C. Policy Center, a nonprofit think tank. She agreed that the enrollment increase is great news for the both the school district and the city as a whole but which grade levels are increasing could mean implications around school budgets later on.

"High schools may see higher levels of funding if enrollments are higher at the high school level and that elementary schools may start to have more of a pinch if indeed that is where enrollment is decreasing," Coffin explained.

Dr. Mitchell told FOX 5 that she is not at all concerned about overcrowding with increasing enrollment and that they do have the capacity.

DC’s annual public school fairs, EdFEST, will be held in person in early December ahead of the My School DC lottery application period, opening on Monday, Dec.16. 

This year’s EdFEST will be offered as two events in order to "provide families more focused school options and education services for their needs." 

EdFEST for students entering grades 9-12 will take place Saturday, Dec. 7, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Eastern High School. Students entering pre-K and grades 3-8 will be on Saturday, Dec. 14, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at DC Armory. 

Admission is free but event registration is required. Families can register for EdFEST at myschooldc.org/events/edfest.