Jackson-Reed High School primarily serves students who live in Ward 3. Still, around, if not more than, 30% of students live outside of this 10.4 mile region. With students scattered all over various parts of DC, getting to school looks different for each one.
Considering Jackson-Reed’s location in the city, public transportation tends to be immensely popular amongst many students. The Metro and public bus system are used daily for the journey to and from school. Some students Metro all the way from Capitol Hill, while others hop on at Van Ness and get off at the next stop. By far, the Metro is the most popular transportation method among JR students. Whether the ride is 35 minutes, 45 minutes, or 2 minutes, students are scattered throughout Metro stations on school mornings.
While most of my friends go to Jackson-Reed or other public schools in the area, there are a handful who go to private schools. After talking to my friend who goes to Maret about the chaos that is the Tenleytown Metro station on a Monday morning, I realized her journey to school was quite different from the people I go to school with. When I came to this realization, I asked her what her transportation from home to school in the morning looked like. “Either I drive, or my mom does, and if that’s not an option I usually just Uber.” I was equally surprised in the moment as you are after reading that sentence. Uber? To school? How strange.
Jackson-Reed students are quite fortunate to have a Metro station so close to the school. The Tenleytown station is around a 4 minute walk from school. Most DC public schools tend to be close to Metro stations because they tend to have more kids spread across the District compared to private schools. At a school like the National Cathedral School, the closest you are going to get to the school on the Metro is Tenleytown.
Another major difference between JR morning arrival compared to other local private schools, like NCS or Maret, is the use of drop off/carpool lines. I do not think Jackson-Reed could even begin to fathom having a drop off-line in front of the school. The school has around 2,200 students, meaning a carpool line would start somewhere around Friendship Heights and end at the main entrance to the school—absurd, I know. As stated earlier, most kids going to Jackson-Reed take public transportation. A student at NCS estimates that “95%, if not more of the kids I go to school with drive/get driven by their parents.” Of course, students at JR are no stranger to driving or getting driven to school, but most opt for public transportation.
If you’re taking the Metro to and from school daily, don’t forget to tap your Kids Ride Free card!
