Jackson-Reed High School (founded as Woodrow Wilson High School) is a
publichigh school in
Washington, D.C. 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. It primarily serves students in Washington's
Ward 3, but nearly 30% of the student body lives outside the school's 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.[8] The school building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 2010 and extensively renovated in 2010–2011.[9]
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, the D.C. commissioners awarded the contract to build the school to the lowest bidder:
McCloskey and Co. of Philadelphia. It was built for a total cost of $1.25 million.
The school opened its doors to students on September 23, 1935, as an all-white school named for
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States,[10] the sixth DC Interhigh school. The school started with 640
sophomores and
juniors, many of whom had transferred from
Central and
Western. Western had been running double shifts (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) to accommodate the 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 class president of the February graduation class. The school held its first spring
commencement exercises, on June 23, 1937, for 290 students. The class president was Robert Davidson.
Subsequent years
In September 1955, Wilson was integrated for the first time, enrolling two black students in the 10th grade.[11] The same year, Edna Burke Jackson (for whom the school was later renamed) became one of the school’s first two black teachers.[11]
In the spring of 1970, about 400 students, almost all black, gathered in the school auditorium to protest inequalities in the school. Jay Childers, the author of The Evolving Citizen: American Youth and the Changing Norms of Democratic Engagement (2012), wrote that this indicated racial tension in the school.[12]
Stephen P. Tarason became the school's 11th principal in January 1999, when he succeeded Wilma Bonner. Bonner spent a brief time working at the main DCPS office before accepting a job at
Howard University School of Education.
In mid-2006, Woodrow Wilson High School was proposed to be 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.
For the 2006–07 school year, Woodrow Wilson was one of 11 U.S. 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 D.C. public schools, the campus was renovated in 2011,[15] bringing it to the
LEED Gold standard.[16] 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.[17]
Childers wrote that the school had been "increasingly troubled" before 2012.[12]
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.[18] The
Westboro Baptist Church had stated that it was going to protest against that pride day.[19]
Cahall left his post in December 2014, in the middle of the school year, after DCPS announced that his contract would not be renewed.[20] Cahall said that his contract was not renewed due to low test scores.[13] In 2015, Cahall became the principal of
Thomas Edison High School of Technology.[21]
In spring 2015, a panel headed by teachers and other employees, parents, and members of the surrounding community examined candidates for the position of principal. DCPS ultimately hired Kimberly Martin,[22] 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.[23][24] She began her term as principal of Wilson on June 29, 2015.[25]
In 2015, DCPS proposed a $15.6 million budget for Wilson, down $300,000 from the previous year, despite a projected enrollment of more students.[26]
2020s: new name
The 21st century brought 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
Civil War and
Reconstruction. His presidency was part of what is known as the
nadir of American race relations. As U.S. president, he began or allowed segregation and purges among federal workers, including in the U.S. military.
Such discussions gained traction in 2015, when
Princeton University students argued for removing 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."[27]
On September 15, 2020, D.C. Public Schools officials announced the school would change its name by the end of 2020, at an estimated cost of $1.2 million.[citation needed] 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 the largest chunk of the vote, more than 30 percent, 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 fall 2021. But the Mayor and 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.[citation needed]
On December 20, 2021, the D.C. 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 D.C. Public Schools superintendent. Bowser did not formally respond to the D.C. Council's actions, which was 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.[28]
Admissions
Demographics
As of the 2022-23 school year, Jackson-Reed serves 2,153 students.[3][29][30] Jackson-Reed is the largest comprehensive public high school in the District.[30]
The Beacon, the school newspaper, described the school as "an integrated school, an unusual, precious, fragile organism, attacked from many sides" in December 1970.[12]
In 1955, 99% of the students at Jackson-Reed were white, and by the late 1960s, the school was still predominately white. A racial integration campaign occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The school was 17% white by 1980.[12] 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.[12]
However, nearly 30% of the student body lives outside the school's boundaries. Those students come from all parts of the District. In all, students come to Jackson-Reed from 40 different schools in the city.
Many of the students live in poor neighborhoods near the school. Tenleytown, the neighborhood surrounding Jackson-Reed has a median family income of over $80,000 as of 2012.[12]
The school's student body is ethnically mixed: 29% African American, 38% Caucasian, 24% Latin American, and 4% Asian American.[34]
Many Jackson-Reed students enroll in advanced courses;[36] As of 2024, Jackson-Reed offers 29
Advanced Placement courses and electives, which is the most in DCPS.[26] In the 2022–2023 school year, Jackson-Reed had a 55% rate of scoring 3–5 in Advanced Placement courses[37]
Many Jackson-Reed students, about 55% of the student body in the 2013–2014 school year,[38] are members of "academies" that seek to tailor a student's curriculum to his or her academic or professional interests. These include Finance, AV Production, Graphic Design, Global Studies, JROTC, Hospitality and Tourism, Triple A(Academic Athletic Achievement), and SciMaTech (IT, Engineering, and Biomed).[38]
Extracurricular activities
Athletics
During its first school year in 1935–36, Jackson-Reed (then-Wilson HS) was not eligible to play in the
Inter-High School Athletic Association. The newly formed
basketball and
baseball teams played an exhibition-only schedule the first year, and there was no football team. The
basketball and
baseball teams began their official Inter-High Series competition in the 1936–'37 school year. The football team played an exhibition season in 1936–37 and then officially joined the Inter-High Series a year later, in the
fall of 1937.
The school was frequently referred to as "the Presidents" by newspaper sportswriters in the early years.
Baseball
By 2008, the Tigers had won sixteen consecutive
DCIAA baseball championships.[39]
Through their 2011 season, the baseball program won nineteen consecutive DCIAA championships.
Basketball
In the 2023-24 season, the boys' varsity team was nationally ranked #39 in the country, according to
MaxPreps. They went 33-3 and won the
DCIAA Championship against
Cardozo High School. In the
DCSAA Playoffs, they lost in the semifinal game against
St. John's College High School by a score of 55-52.
Other sports
The boys'
ultimate frisbee team is currently ranked eighth in the country and the girls' team 17th, according to Ultiworld magazine as of April 5, 2019.[40]
The Tigers athletic program maintains the only
crew team among D.C. public high schools.[citation needed]
Varsity
softball won the DCIAA championship for the three consecutive years in 2007, 2008, and 2009. In 2009 the team, led by seniors Kathleen McLain and Rachel Bitting, played
Georgetown Visitation in the Congressional Bank Softball Classic in which the softball champion of the DC public schools played the champion of the DC private schools. Wilson won the game, 3–2.[41]
Publications
Jackson-Reed's school newspaper is called The Beacon. It began publication in 1935.[42]
In 2012 Jay Childers wrote that the quality of the publication and the publishing frequency of the Beacon declined as the school had increased difficulties.[12] Historically, the school administration did not, and still does not, review Beacon articles before publication,[43] even though the
U.S. Supreme Court in
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier stated that principals have the right to have control over newspaper content. In August 2015, Principal Kimberly Martin announced that the newspaper would be required to allow her and her staff to review all articles before publication. This led to protests from students, including a
Change.org petition.[44] The newspaper staff criticized and stated opposition to the proposal.[44][45] By September, Martin and the co-editors agreed to end the prior review plan.[43] Martin had canceled publishing a newspaper article at her previous school in Colorado.[46]
Students also publish an annual literary magazine called L.A.V.A.
Campus
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (September 2015)
The campus includes an Olympic-sized swimming pool, theater space, and a large atrium. There is a turf football field behind the school, surrounded by a 400-yard running track - closer to 350 meters than the standard 400.
Athletic facilities
Jackson-Reed Stadium opened for duty in 1939. An artificial turf field was installed over the summer of 2007. A sound system, press box, and lights were also added to the stadium. The stadium is now used for several sports, including soccer, football, and lacrosse.
There has been an aquatic facility on the high school's campus since the late 1970s. It first opened in 1978 but was condemned and demolished in 2007. A new Aquatic Center for
Ward 3 was completed in 2009,[1] with an indoor 50-meter swimming pool, a children's pool, and other facilities.[47]
Controversies
In December 2023, school officials denied a request by the school's Arab Student Union to show “
The Occupation of the American Mind", a 2016 film that "has been blasted as antisemitic for years," as the Washington Post put it.[48]
Awards and recognition
In April 2013, Jackson-Reed was named as a Green Ribbon School by the
U.S. Department of Education in recognition for "being good stewards of the environment."[49]
Notable alumni
Notable alumni of Jackson-Reed High School include:[50]
^"Principal's Message". About. Jackson-Reed High School.
Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
^"Woodrow Wilson High School". U.S. News High School Rankings. U.S. News & World Report L.P. 2021.
Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
^"August Wilson High School". National Register of Historic Places Database. National Park Service.
Archived from the original on January 21, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
^"School Profiles Home". Wilson High School Profile. DC Public Schools.
Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
^
abcd"Wilson High School". School Profiles. District of Columbia Public Schools.
Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
^"Deal Middle School". School Profiles. District of Columbia Public Schools.
Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
^"Hardy Middle School". School Profiles. District of Columbia Public Schools.
Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
^Department of Parks and Recreation,
Wilson Aquatic Center, District of Columbia,
archived from the original on February 3, 2014, retrieved January 31, 2014
^Barras, Jonetta Rose (May 5, 2016).
"Alexander Takes Off the Gloves". East of the River Magazine. Capital Community News. p. 36. Archived from
the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
^Walsh, Sharon (August 2, 1991).
"Cloud Over a Rising Star". The Washington Post. p. A1.
Archived from the original on April 22, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^"Jackson Attains Grant Finals; 18 Named Merit Semifinalists"(PDF), The Beacon, vol. 31, no. 1, Woodrow Wilson High School, October 15, 1965,
archived(PDF) from the original on April 3, 2022, retrieved February 25, 2015, Merit semifinalists include seniors Philip Benedict....
^Pezzullo, Elizabeth (July 4, 2004).
"Doris Buffett: She lives to give". The Free Lance-Star. Fredericksburg, VA.
Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^Luisa Kroll, Matthew Miller (March 10, 2010).
"The World's Billionaires". Forbes.
Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
^Denlinger, Kenneth (November 15, 1974). "Dallas' Donuts Keep D.C.'s Carrell Happy". The Washington Post.
^Harrington, Richard (October 25, 1981).
"Finger-Pickin' Good". The Washington Post. p. L3.
^Carlson, Peter (December 15, 2002).
"The Crusader". The Washington Post. p. F1.
Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^Huff, Donald (May 7, 1980). "Fields Surprised at High Draft Spot". The Washington Post. p. D6.
^Harrington, Richard (July 25, 1982).
"The Comedy of Bliss". The Washington Post. p. L3.
Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
^Segal, David (January 28, 2002).
"Citizen Cope's Record Year". The Washington Post. p. C1.
Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
^
abcdBlitz, Matt (June 2, 2016).
"10 Nostalgic Stops on the DC Musical History Tour". Washingtonian Magazine.
Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020. DC's largest high school, Wilson boasts a deep bench of notable graduates, but its alumni band could rock Coachella: Citizen Cope, DJ Spooky, and the Source's David Mays all haunted its halls over the past two decades. Too old to appreciate that list? Wilson also educated Ian MacKaye and Brendan Canty, who later joined forces in Fugazi
^Schudel, Matt (June 9, 2007). "Gilbert Gude, 84; GOP Legislator, Environmentalist". The Washington Post. p. B6.
^Laura A. Kiernan; Benjamin Weiser (October 1, 1981).
"D.C. Judge Favored for Prosecutor". The Washington Post. p. A1.
Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
^Forgey, Benjamin (March 25, 1989).
"The Jacobsen Vision". The Washington Post. p. D1.
Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
^Williams, Christian (October 2, 1980).
"Southern Discomfort". The Washington Post. p. F15.
Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
^Rubin, Martin (August 13, 2013).
"Book Review: In the Ring". The Washington Times.
Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
^"Stearns, Clifford Bundy". Office of the Historian. U.S. House of Representatives.
Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
^Jones, James (February 6, 2007).
"The Second Coming". Washington City Paper.
Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
^DeNunzio, Jon (April 23, 1995).
"Draft is Fruitful for Area Trio". The Washington Post. p. D7.
Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
^Romano, Lois (October 30, 1984).
"John Warner, On His Own". The Washington Post. p. D1.
Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
^
abTelander, Rick (September 9, 1987).
"Linebacker Music". Sports Illustrated. pp. 69–76.
Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.