Norton to Commemorate Opening of Creative Minds International PCS

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and DC Public Charter School Board Executive Director Scott Pearson today will speak at the lease signing ceremony marking a partnership between the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH), a federal institution, and Creative Minds International Public Charter School (CMI) at the Armed Forces Retirement Home Sherman Building South (140 Rock Creek Church Rd. NW) at 2:00 p.m. “This new space will be a big improvement to the learning environment of the 250 students that will attend Creative Minds this fall,” said Scott Pearson, Executive Director of the DC Public Charter School Board.  “It is particularly exciting that they will be in a facility close to where so many of our nation’s retired veterans live." 

Norton will be joined by CMI Founder/Head of School Dr. Golnar Abedin, AFRH Chief Operating Officer Steven McManus, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense-Military Community and Family Policy Rosemary Williams, and a host of parents and friends.

In December, Norton met with AFHR and requested that AFRH submit its notification of the lease to Congress, as required by law, by the start of January so that CMI could sign the lease this month and open in time for the start of the school year.  Norton helped secure $15 million for D.C. Public Charter Schools in the fiscal year 2015 appropriations bill.

“The partnership between CMI and AFRH is not only innovative but increasingly necessary in a city where land is scarce and the unoccupied space is often on federal land,” Norton said.  “We appreciate how hard CMI and AFRH have worked together so that hundreds of students will have the opportunity to learn and grow in an excellent charter school surrounded by green space.”

"The Creative Minds International Public Charter School community is enthusiastic about our upcoming move this August to the historic Sherman Building, on the beautiful grounds of the AFRH campus,” Abedin said.  “We look forward to growing a long-term partnership with AFRH, and are grateful for this wonderful opportunity."

“We are very pleased that Creative Minds International Public Charter School will be opening in the fall of 2015,” McManus said.  “This will be a wonderful partnership for many years to come, and this partnership will assist AFRH in continuing to grow ties with the Washington, D.C. community. 

The school will lease 32,000 sq. ft. of space for 16 classrooms at AFRH in its North Sherman and Annex buildings.  Beginning this fall, 250 CMI students will attend classes at the AFRH campus.