April 2016 DC Public Charter School News
| This Month in the Chartersphere |
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Families Continue to Demand High-Performing Public Charter Schools |
| Overall, there are 8,640 individual students on waitlists to attend one or more participating public charter schools in the 2016-17 school year, an 1.3% increase over last year’s 8,526 students. In total 20,880 students are on a waitlist at any PK-12 school, this is an increase from 18,835 last year. Read more here |
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Board Receives Two New Public Charter School Proposals |
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| DC PCSB received two proposals from groups seeking to open new public charter schools in Washington, DC. If approved, the public charter schools would open in school year 2017-18. The proposals include one adult education schools and one elementary school. Read more about the process and individual applications here. This week we held a Charter Town Hall to discuss the proposals and the Board will hear from the public on April 18 at 6 p.m. during the monthly board meeting.; |
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Three Benefits of Public Charter Schools Using Vacant School Buildings |
| Finding the right schools can be a challenge for DC's public charter schools. Many public charter schools seek to occupy a vacant DC Public School (DCPS) building as the obvious location for their school. When public charter schools successfully locate in an unused DCPS building, both the pubic charter school and the city benefit. Read our analysis here |
| Public Charter School Students Involved in the Community |
| IDEA PCS Men's Club Tutors Houston Elementary Students |
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| IDEA PCS Men's Club launched a partnership to mentor students at Houston Elementary School in the upcoming school year. |
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Capital City PCS Tackles Food Justice |
| Capital City PCS partnered up with Mighty Greens at Eastern High School, the University of the District of Columbia, Senzu Juicery, and American University to take a look at food justice. Together they launched various student-led workshops for nearly 200 attendees. Learn more about this initiative here. |
| Paul PCS Hosts 3rd Annual "My Brother's Keeper...Responding to the Call" Reception |
| Paul PCS is hosting its 3rd Annual "My Brother's Keeper...Responding to the Call" Reception on May 6 at 6:30 p.m. at Paul PCS. The school is partnering with with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Groove Phi Groove Fraternity, Incorporated, Metropolitan Police Department: 4th District, The Royal Class, The Black Man Can Institute, and The Rebound 4 Success Institute to celebrate National Charter Schools Week and Teacher Appreciation Week. This event is free and open to the public. Learn more here |
| Maya Angelou PCS Restores Urban Farm |
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| On April 22, Maya Angelou PCS will join the University of the District of Columbia and community members to clean up the East Capitol Urban Farm on April 22. Volunteers will prepare the farm for the Spring Build Day on May 21. Learn more here |
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Distinguished Gentlemen Visit Annapolis |
| Somerset Prep PCS' Distinguished Gentlemen Club visited Annapolis, MD to learn more about the inner workings of Maryland legislature and state government. |
| Man the Block to Provide Safe Passage on May 16 |
| The Man the Block Initiative, a group comprised of various public and public charter schools, is seeking volunteers for May 16 to provide safe passage for students at schools across the city. Learn more here |
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| Celebrating National Poetry Month |
| E.L. Haynes PCS Poets Take the Stage |
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| E.L. Haynes PCS participated in the National Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest. Congratulations to first place winner, Deonte Watkins, and runner-up, Diego Uceda. Watch the performances here. |
| Cesar Chavez PCS' ContraVerse Spreads Spoken Word |
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The ContraVerse Spoken Word Team of Cesar Chavez PCS Capitol Hill led dynamic poetry workshops with middle and high school students across the District. The group facilitated creative writing tasks for youth at Anacostia High School and Sousa Middle School. The poets performed popular pieces utilized in recent poetry competitions and worked with students to address identity, community, and connections to key items in their lives. View performances here.
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| Upcoming Events |
| April 18 - Board Meeting The Board will hold its monthly meeting on Monday, April 18 at 6 p.m. to discuss various issues related to public charter schools, new charter school proposals, and to hear from the public. The meeting will be held at Carlos Rosario International PCS at 1100 Harvard St NW. Watch the meeting on our website or follow the discussion on Twitter @dcpcsb. Missed last month's meeting? Read a summary here. |
| National Charter Schools Week |
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| National Charter Schools Week is coming! On May 1-7, celebrate and raise awareness about public charter schools in DC and across the nation. To download resources and start preparing for the celebration, click here |