Mayor Muriel Bowser cut the ribbon Thursday, Aug. 27, on a $90.9 million modernization of J.O. Wilson Elementary School in Ward 6. Pre-K students started their first day at the transformed building at 660 K Street NE.
The project is the District's costliest single school renovation this back-to-school season, according to the mayor's office. It is nearly four times the $23 million Barnard Elementary addition Bowser celebrated one day earlier in Ward 4.
Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, DCPS Interim Chancellor Dr. Kim Jackson, Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn, and Principal Mitchell Brunson joined the ceremony.
What's new inside
The 93,000-square-foot project combined renovation of the existing building with new construction. The school now has two music classrooms, two art classrooms with a fired kiln for ceramics, a turf field and running track, two playgrounds, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, and an outdoor classroom with a vegetable garden. A new gymnasium doubles as a stage for J.O. Wilson's performing arts program.
The building is designed to meet LEED for Schools Gold standards and is required to operate as a net-zero energy facility. Chiaramonte/Davis/Perkins Eastman served as the design-build team. Construction began in December 2023.
Broader investment
The ribbon-cutting is part of a citywide push. Since 2015, the District has invested nearly $5 billion in DCPS facilities across all eight wards, according to the mayor's office.
The FY27 Grow DC Budget adds $269 million for free universal pre-K, $2.4 million to expand access to Advanced Technical Centers and $3 million for high-impact tutoring.
At the Barnard ribbon-cutting on Aug. 26, Bowser framed the modernization wave in terms of enrollment: "Strong facilities help us attract and retain strong educators. And when we have great teaching and learning, families trust us and they vote with their feet."
Who attends
J.O. Wilson serves grades PK3 through 5 and feeds into Stuart-Hobson Middle School. Enrollment stands at 477 students. The student body is 81% Black or African American, 6% Hispanic or Latino, 9% white and 3% multiracial.
Programs include the Cardinal Drama Players, an American Sign Language club, Girls on the Run and interscholastic sports alongside the school's new performing arts program.
