 emerson preparatory school (also known as emerson) is a small private high school in northwest washington, d.c., founded in 1852 as the emerson institute. it is washington's oldest co-ed college preparatory school. following world war ii, in 1946, emerson adopted its current academic program providing classes on a term system in which classes are completed in full during each four and one half month term. following graduation, 95% of graduates attend a four year college and 5% attend a two year college or take a gap year before attending college. emerson offers an intellectually stimulating array of courses in an informal and relaxed atmosphere. the school serves high school students from maryland, dc, and virginia. the school is located at 1324 18th street nw, near dupont circle and embassy row. most students ride the metro to and from school. emerson has occupied its present location since 1937. ==history== emerson was founded in the district of columbia in 1852 by charles bedford young, ph.d., as a school to prepare washington area boys for entrance to harvard. it was named for george barrell emerson, a noted new england educator, author, and harvard graduate (1817). after the civil war the school's graduates began to attend other colleges and universities, and, in 1920, became washington's first coeducational preparatory school. notable emerson graduates include kate grinold (2003), who was crowned miss district of columbia in june 2008 and who represented the district in 2009's miss america pageant, movie actor, and vocalist of the alternative rock band 30 seconds to mars jared leto (class of 1989), science fiction author william f. gibson (1970), and musician brian baker (1983). judge john "maximum john" sirica{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2002/06/11/ar2005112200807_pf.html |title=john sirica obituary | accessdate = 2
Dupont_Circle Educational_institutions_established_in_1852 Preparatory_schools_in_Washington,_D.C. Private_high_schools_in_Washington,_D.C.