The Duke Ellington School of the Arts (established 1974) is a high school located at 35th Street and R Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and dedicated to arts education. One of the high schools of the District of Columbia Public School system, it is named for the American jazz bandleader and composer Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899–1974), himself a native of Washington, D.C. The building formerly housed Western High School. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Graduates of the school are prepared to pursue an artistic and theatric occupation. In addition to completing the traditional public school college prep curriculum, students must audition for and complete studies in one of the following artistic areas: dance, literary media and communications, museum studies, instrumental music, vocal music, theater, technical design and production, and visual arts. The school developed from the collaborative efforts of Peggy Cooper Cafritz, a long-time member of the D.C. School Board and Mike Malone, a veteran of Broadway, off-Broadway, contemporary dancer, director, and master choreographer, who were co-founders of Workshops for Careers in the Arts in 1968. In 1974 this workshop program developed into the Duke Ellington School of the Arts at Western High School, an accredited four-year public high school program combining arts and academics. It is currently operated as a joint partnership between D.C. Public Schools, the Kennedy Center, and George Washington University. Students and faculty Ellington currently serves approximately 500 students in grades 9-12. Most students commute in from outside of Ward 2, where the school is situated. The academic faculty is fully credentialed and includes seven Fulbright scholars, various PhDs, and DCPS's only national board certified teacher (NBCT) in young adulthood English/language arts. Many of the arts faculty are alumni of the school. Academics Ranked as one of D.C. Public Schools' top high schools, Ellington's curriculum requires students earn 34% more credits than those at other D.C. public high schools. Students must maintain a minimum grade point average in both academics and the arts to be permitted to perform and, ultimately, to stay enrolled at Ellington. The school has a 99% on-time graduation rate. Arts Ellington's mission is to emphasize the arts as much as academics. It offers training in eight disciplines: Dance, Literary Media and Communications, Museum Studies, Instrumental or Vocal Music, Theater, Technical Design and Production, and Visual Arts. In support of their arts program, the school offers master