Stoddert Elementary School

About

Today, Stoddert is a diverse school serving children from over 32 countries, including the embassies of China, France and Russia. We have approximately 350 students and had increased by about 50% from a decade earlier.

Story

Benjamin Stoddert Elementary School, named after the first U.S. Secretary of the Navy, is located in the Glover Park neighborhood of Northwest Washington DC just north of Georgetown. Stoddert serves a student population drawn from the neighborhoods of Glover Park, Cathedral Heights and Burleith (between Georgetown and Glover Park), as well as a number of out-of-boundary students from throughout the District and Bolling Air Force Base.

The school was opened in 1932 to serve the population of recent extensive new housing developments. Before the school opened, children had to ride streetcars to schools in other parts of the city. The original design was never fully completed because the construction company went bankrupt. The school’s huge green space to the east was the cradle of the DC Stoddert Soccer League, which was founded in 1977.

Stoddert’s building was closed during the 2009-2010 school year for extensive renovations and additions, and re-opened in August 2010. The renovation was supervised by EEK Architects & Engineers and built by Whiting Turner Construction Co. During the closure, students attended school in windowless temporary trailers that were installed on the west side of 39th Street, north of Calvert. Despite the sub-optimial physical conditions (or perhaps because of them?), Stoddert’s kids were proud to have the highest test scores among DC public elementary schools for the 2009-2010 school year.