Jackson-Reed High School (formerly known as Woodrow Wilson High School) is a public high school in Washington, DC. It serves grades 9 through 12 as part of the District of Columbia Public Schools. The school sits in the Tenleytown neighborhood, at the intersection of Chesapeake Street and Nebraska Avenue, NW. Although it primarily serves students in Washington's Ward 3, nearly 30% of the student body lives outside the school's district boundaries.
Opened in 1935, the school was originally named for Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States. It was renamed in 2022 for Edna Burke Jackson, the school's first African American teacher, and Vincent Reed, its first African American principal. The school building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 and renovated in 2010–2011.
History Early years
What is now Jackson-Reed High School was built on a patch of land acquired in 1930, known by the neighboring Tenleytowners as "French's Woods." In March 1934, DC commissioners awarded the contract to build the school to the lowest bidder: McCloskey and Co. of Philadelphia. The building was completed for $1.25 million ($ today).
The school opened its doors to students on 23 September 1935, as an all-white school named for Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, the sixth DC Interhigh school. The school started with 640 sophomores and juniors, many of whom had transferred from Central and Western High Schools. Western had been running double shifts (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) to accommodate students from the Wilson neighborhoods. The first principal was Norman J. Nelson, formerly assistant principal at Western.
Wilson High School graduated its first students in February 1937. Chester Moye was the president of the February graduation class. The school held its first spring commencement exercises for 290 students on 23 June 1937.
Subsequent years In September 1955, Wilson was integrated for the first time, enrolling two black students in the 10th grade. The same year, Edna Burke Jackson (for whom the school was later renamed) became one of the school’s first two black teachers.
In the spring of 1970, about 400 students, almost all black, gathered in the school auditorium to protest inequalities in the school. Jay Childers, author of The Evolving Citizen: American Youth and the Changing Norms of Democratic Engagement (2012), wrote that this indicated racial tension in the school.Jay Childers, The Evolving Citizen: American Youth and the Changing Norms of Democratic Engagement (2012) p. 48.
Stephen P. Tarason succeeded Wilma Bonner as the school's 11th principal in January 1999. Bonner worked briefly at the main DCPS office before accepting a job at Howard University School of Education.
In mid-2006, Woodrow Wilson High School was proposed as a charter school. However, the superintendent asked the school to hold off in exchange for being granted control over certain areas of autonomy, especially facilities.
Jacqueline Williams became interim principal in 2007 after Tarason left to become a middle school principal in Hagerstown, Maryland. The following year, DCPS chancellor Michelle Rhee appointed as principal Peter Cahall,Chandler, Michael Alison. "Wilson High principal Cahall, who came out as gay, says he's losing job over test scores" (Archive). Washington Post. December 12, 2014. Retrieved on September 23, 2015. a former teacher and administrator with the Montgomery County Public Schools.
The school building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.
For the 2006–07 school year, Woodrow Wilson was one of 11 US schools selected by the College Board for the EXCELerator School Improvement Model program, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
2010s Along with several other DC public schools, the campus was renovated in 2011, bringing it to the LEED Gold standard. For the 2010–11 school year, Wilson held classes in a temporary space at the University of the District of Columbia. The renovated school reopened in October, and festivities included a 75th-anniversary celebration.
Childers wrote that the school had been "increasingly troubled" before 2012.
In June 2014, Cahall came out as gay to his students during the school's gay pride day. He said that his students inspired him to come out.Brown, Emma. "Wilson High principal comes out as gay at school's Pride Day" (Archive). Washington Post. June 4, 2014. Retrieved on September 23, 2015. The Westboro Baptist Church had stated that it was going to protest against Pride Day.Brown, Emma. "Anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church has a new target: D.C.’s Wilson High" (Archive). Washington Post. May 27, 2014. Retrieved on September 23, 2015.
Cahall left his post in December 2014, in the middle of the school year, after DCPS announced that his contract would not be renewed."D.C. Principal Resigns Mid-Year After DCPS Announced His Contract Won't Be Renewed " (). NBC Washington. Tuesday, December 23, 2014. Retrieved on September 23, 2015. Cahall said his contract was not renewed due to low test scores. In 2015, Cahall became the principal of Thomas Edison High School of Technology.Chandler, Michael Alison. "Former Wilson High principal will lead Montgomery tech high school" (Archive). Washington Post. April 28, 2015. Retrieved on September 23, 2015.
In the spring of that year, a panel headed by teachers and other employees, parents, and members of the surrounding community examined candidates for the principal position. DCPS ultimately hired Kimberly Martin,Chandler, Michael Alison. "New Wilson principal has experience and passion for urban education" (Archive). Washington Post. June 10, 2015. Retrieved on September 25, 2015. who had served as the principal of Lorain Admiral King High School in Lorain, Ohio, from 2003 to 2005, after teaching there for five years; as principal of Thomas W. Harvey High School in Painesville, Ohio, from 2005 to 2012; and as principal of Aspen High School in Aspen, Colorado, from 2012 to 2015. She began her term as principal of Wilson on 29 June 2015.di Marzo, Marina. "D.C.'s Wilson High School Gets New Principal D.C.'s Wilson High School Gets New Principal " (). NBC Washington. Tuesday, June 2, 2015. Retrieved on September 25, 2015.
In 2015, DCPS proposed a $15.6 million budget for Wilson, down $300,000 from the previous year, despite a projected increase in enrollment.Chandler, Michael Alison. "Wilson HS community resists budget cuts as enrollment keeps climbing" (Archive). Washington Post. March 31, 2015. Retrieved on September 23, 2015.
2020s: new name The 21st century saw sporadic discussions about whether Woodrow Wilson was an appropriate namesake for a high school. Wilson supported segregation, and his works as a historian are pillars of the Dunning School approach to the American Civil War and Reconstruction era. His presidency was part of what is known as the nadir of American race relations. As US president, he began or allowed segregation and purges among federal workers, including in the US armed forces.
Such discussions gained traction in 2015 when Princeton University students argued for the removal of Wilson's name from campus buildings. Some suggested that the high school be renamed to honor Reno, a black community demolished in the 1930s to create Fort Reno Park, because Wilson's policies, particularly his segregation of the federal workforce, laid the groundwork for dismantling it. Proponents of changing the name argued, as the Washington Post put it in 2019, that "the community in Northwest Washington has to acknowledge that the federal government—after Wilson left office—uprooted established black communities to create the upper-income, largely white enclave it is today."
On 15 September 2020, DC Public Schools officials announced the school would change its name by the end of 2020, at an estimated cost of $1.2 million. After a citywide call for nominations drew more than 2,000 submissions, the mayor settled on nine finalists and put the list to a community vote. By far, more than 30 percent of the vote went to August Wilson, the African American playwright. The DCPS leaders and the mayor's office expressed support, so the school planned to rename itself August Wilson High School in the fall of 2021. However, the Mayor and the DC Council failed to act on the name change formally. The class of 2022 graduated with the simplified name "Wilson High School" on their diplomas.
On 20 December 2021, the DC Council voiced opposition to the proposed new name and voted instead to name the school Jackson-Reed High School, after Edna Burke Jackson, the first African American teacher at Wilson High School, and Vincent Reed, an African American principal who became DC Public Schools superintendent. Bowser did not formally respond to the DC Council's actions, which passed with a veto-proof majority. The bill was transmitted for Congressional review under the Home Rule Charter without incident and became law on March 15, 2022.
Admissions Demographics As of the 2022-23 school year, Jackson-Reed serves 2,153 students. Jackson-Reed is the largest comprehensive public high school in the District.
The Beacon, the school newspaper, described the school as "an integrated school, an unusual, precious, fragile organism, attacked from many sides" in December 1970.
In 1955, 99% of Jackson-Reed students were white, and by the late 1960s, the school was still predominantly white. A campaign for racial integration occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The school was 17% white by 1980. By 2012, there had been a decline in students from wealthier families; by then, many alternative options for schooling had appeared in the DCPS system.
Attendance boundaries Jackson-Reed primarily serves students in Ward 3. School boundaries encompass everything west of 16th Street, NW.
Neighborhoods include Adams Morgan, Georgetown, Glover Park, Chevy Chase, Friendship Heights and Tenleytown."High School Boundary Map " (2016–2017 School Year). District of Columbia Public Schools. Retrieved on May 27, 2018.
The following elementary schools feed into Jackson-Reed:
Bancroft Elementary School Hearst Elementary School Janney Elementary School Lafayette Elementary School Murch Elementary School Oyster-Adams Bilingual School Shepherd Elementary School The following middle schools feed into Jackson-Reed: Deal Middle School Oyster-Adams Bilingual School However, nearly 30% of the student body lives outside the school's boundaries. Those students come from all parts of the District, and students come to Jackson-Reed from 40 different schools in the city.
Many students live in poor neighborhoods near the school, and 12% receive free and reduced-price lunch benefits.
Tenleytown, the neighborhood surrounding Jackson-Reed, has a median family income of over $80,000 as of 2012.
The school's student body is ethnically mixed: 29% African American, 38% Caucasian, 24% Latin American, and 4% Asian American.
Curriculum Students are required to complete 24 credits for graduation, including courses in Art, English, Health and Physical Education, Mathematics, Music, Science, Social Studies, and World Languages.
Many Jackson-Reed students enroll in advanced courses; As of 2024, Jackson-Reed offers 30 Advanced Placement courses and electives, which is the most in DCPS. In the 2022–2023 school year, Jackson-Reed had a 55% rate of scoring 3–5 in Advanced Placement courses
Many Jackson-Reed students are members of NAF/PLTW/CTE academies that seek to tailor students' curricula to their academic or professional interests. These include IT Academy, Engineering Academy, Biomedical Academy, Academy of Finance, AV Production Academy, Academy of Graphic Design, Academy of Global Studies, Leadership Academy: JROTC & Cybersecurity, Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, and Triple A (Athletic Achievement Academy).
Extracurricular activities Athletics