Schools in Hillsdale

Hillsdale is a Ward 8 community located in the southern part of DC between Congress Heights and Bellevue, notable for having eight schools — all of them public charter schools. This makes Hillsdale one of the most thoroughly charter-served neighborhoods in Washington DC, with no traditional DCPS neighborhood schools operating within its immediate boundaries. The charter schools in Hillsdale span a wide range of grade levels and educational philosophies, including college preparatory, arts-integrated, and project-based learning models. Families in Hillsdale who want a DCPS school typically participate in the citywide lottery or apply to nearby Ward 8 DCPS schools in adjacent Congress Heights or Anacostia. The neighborhood is served by the Southern Avenue Metro station (Green line) and has Metrobus connections along Wheeler Road and Southern Avenue. Ward 8's ongoing economic development, anchored by the St. Elizabeths East campus and the Entertainment and Sports Arena, is bringing new investment to the area surrounding Hillsdale. Ward 8 families can apply to any school in DC through the open lottery, and DC's equitable access provisions give Ward 8 students additional priority points when applying to schools outside their immediate neighborhood.