A tale of two schools

As District school officials brace for the first day of classes on Monday, Mayor Adrian Fenty and school Chancellor Michelle Rhee are preparing for a greater challenge: reforming the 55,000-student system from the ground up. Perhaps the greatest obstacle they will face is the vast disparity between schools serving the city’s poorest children and those in relatively affluent neighborhoods. At one pole is Key Elementary, the city’s highest-performing school according to federal data. At the other is Gibbs, the city’s worst. The Examiner visited both schools in an effort to identify the factors that affect student performance.

Key Elementary