D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee recently commented on DCPS’s 2018-19 graduation rate, expressing his pride for the 2,170 graduates who in 2019 met the school system’s standards of excellence.
“Over the past two years, DCPS has been committed to maintaining transparent and strong systems so that students, families, and the community are confident in the value of a DCPS diploma and have what they need to succeed,” Ferebee said in a Nov. 8 statement. “That includes launching the Student Guide to Graduation, Career, and College to provide students with personalized information about their path to graduation, and developing a more rigorous credit recovery program to give students another opportunity to earn credits towards graduation outside of their regular course schedule in a supportive, personalized environment.
Student Budget Hearing Participation
In this year’s Family and Community Guide to the D.C. Public Schools Budget, DCPS officials are sharing ways to make the budget process more transparent — including the identification of all school funding sources, the release of school-specific narratives to explain year over year programmatic fluctuations in school budgets, and additional context on how central office funds are spent.
DCPS recently launched engagement for the fiscal year 2021 budget through a student budget hearing and a public budget hearing that enabled students from high schools across all wards to share what they wanted to see regarding increased focus on trauma-informed practices, post-secondary supports, and on sharing programming the schools offer.
New Expeditionary Learning Middle School
Capital Village Public Charter School recently announced that the DC Public Charter School Board approved their charter application and the school will open its first campus in fall 2020.
Capital Village PCS is a small community school, born out of an urgent need to rethink traditional middle school settings where some students excel, but others fall through the cracks. The school will meet the diverse needs of learners by focusing on the needs, interests and ambitions of each individual learner, so all learners can grow. Each Capital Village campus will serve no more than 180 learners, the first of which will be a middle school (5th — 8th grade) in D.C.
“We are excited to redesign the middle school experience in Washington, D.C.,” said Monica Green, executive director. “We believe that if given the proper support and environment, all learners can grow and learn regardless of background or circumstance.”
Top Performing Team
Creative Minds International Public Charter School recently showcased their robot driving skills and programming in Louisville, Ky., where they were named a “top-performing team.”
This accolade led to the participants receiving an invitation to host the first annual CMI PCS DC Vex Robotics IQ Worlds tournament at their school on Dec. 7. To prepare for the tournament, the CMI team is building competitive robots and developing their winning strategies.