PCSB Nominees Tell Council Why They Want to Serve on the Board

Nophlin testified at the nominating hearing that she would use her “administration experience to help strengthen the Board’s accountability requirements.” As the former head of school at Paul Public Charter School and principal in DC public and charter schools, she stressed to the Council her desire to be the “voice of PCSB with parents and community members.” If confirmed, she would be the first former DC charter school leader to serve on the Board. 

Tillery is the executive director of College Success Foundation, an organization that provides supports and scholarships for underserved, low-income students.  “[My] work at the College Success Foundation allows me to bring a view from the field as the Board deliberates on schools and education issues across the city,” Tillery said.

If confirmed the nominees would contribute to the board’s mission of approving new charters schools, closing down poorly performing schools, and performing ongoing monitoring.

Catania said he expects the full council to vote on the nominations in July.  

To read the full nominees testimonies, click here.  

Perry Street Preparatory PCS Graduates Appear in the Washington Post

School Weather Update - Thursday June 13

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KIPP DC College Preparatory First Graduating Class Awarded More Than $2.8 Million in Scholarships

With graduation season in full swing, this year 20 schools will hold ceremonies from May 31 until August 8. Two schools will hold graduation ceremonies for the first time: National Collegiate Preparatory and KIPP DC College Preparatory.  

Four years ago, KIPP DC College Preparatory Public Charter High School opened its doors to students from the communities most underserved in Washington, DC. Today, 100% of the students in the founding class have been accepted to over 150 different colleges and universities and earned more than two million dollars in college scholarships. Students selected scholarships from the Gates Millennium Scholarship, the POSSE Scholars Program, Presidential Scholars, and Deans Scholars at colleges across the country.

As one senior, Jenny Jones, states in the KIPP Spotlight, “I feel as though KIPP DC has helped me to believe and know that I really can do whatever I set my mind to do.  I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing or if it is just feeling it in your gut that this really can happen, but I know that I can do whatever I set my mind to do.  I am going to college.”  Jenny is currently deciding between Dartmouth College, Davidson College, and Tulane University. 

Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, delivered the keynote address.  She urged graduates to strive for excellence and commit to hard work.    

Source: KIPP DC: Spotlight, Spring 2013 Newsletter  

Update:  Jenny Jones will attend Davidson College as a Presidential Scholar.  

Vacant Surplus Buildings Available For Public Charter Schools

Common Charter School and DCPS Lottery For SY13-14

 

Now, DC Public Schools (DCPS) has expressed interest in joining those efforts so there can be a common lottery for public and public charter schools, with the goal that a common system of choice will be easier and better for schools and parents alike.

Like last year, charter school participation in the common lottery would be voluntary.   

The potential to transform the enrollment process in DC, making it easier for families and schools, is an exciting one.  

KIPP Foundation Approved as New Accrediting Body

PCSB recently approved approve a new accrediting body. KIPP Foundation, a national network of college-prep schools, was unanimously approved to act as an accrediting body for DC public charter schools.

What this essentially means is KIPP National Foundation has the authority to subject all KIPP DC schools to their “Healthy Schools and Regions” Framework requirements, as opposed to another framework, like Middle States.   The Healthy Schools and Regions framework is a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum.  PCSB reviewed the framework and deemed it to be a valid measure of school performance for one of the District’s highest-performing charter schools. 

Read additional highlights from the May Board meeting here.

Charter Founder: Josh Kern, Thurgood Marshall Academy

Thurgood Marshall Academy founder Josh Kern 

One in an occasional series about DC charter school founders.

"People Didn't Think it was Possible"
Josh Kern, Thurgood Marshall Academy

I have no recollection of actually turning in the application. I remember getting the message that we were conditionally approved. I was biking from Seattle to San Francisco. I stopped by a payphone to check my messages and there was one from the PCSB. I was literally on the side of the highway on my bicycle when I learned that my dream to open a law-themed high school in Ward 8 would become a reality.

People didn't think it was possible. I remember one person during the application process saying to me: “How are you going to have an open enrollment college prep high school in Anacostia? You¹ll have to reduce expectations for success after high school or limit enrollment to high-performing students.” I told that person – and any anyone who doubted that it was possible -- that the point of the school was to prove that it was doable.

There were a lot of doubters through those first 10 years I led Thurgood Marshall.  I also remember a lot of people who were incredibly generous and supportive.  I'll never forget those people who believed in all the possibilities that the school represented.

We had been open for several years and it still felt like an experiment. And then one day I watched our cheerleaders cheering on our basketball team in our newly constructed gymnasium. And it hit me, that this was a high school.

When we had cheerleaders in our gym cheering on our student athletes, the school moved from some idea that floated in my head into an institution that would continue long after me.

I ran Thurgood Marshall Academy for ten years and stepped down because the school had met and even exceeded my dreams for what we could accomplish. I wanted to create one great school and it ended up being even better than I anticipated.

Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School was approved in 2000 by the Public Charter School Board and opened in 2001 with 80 ninth grade students. Josh Kern led the school from 2001 to 2011 and planned for Alexandra Pardo, Academic Director, to succeed him as executive director. Today Thurgood Marshall Academy is the highest-achieving open-enrollment high school in the District. 

BASIS DC Student Wins National Contest

Come Testify at Public Hearing on DC International Charter School

Parents, are you interested in language-immersion options for your children? On Monday, May 20, PCSB will be holding a public hearing about the future DC International charter school (DCI).

DC International is a proposed program combining five existing language-immersion public charter schools to create a single middle and high school that would offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum and give students the option of learning a second language from the following schools:

• Chinese (Washington Yu Ying)
• French or Spanish (Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom)
• Spanish (DC Bilingual)
• Spanish (Latin American Montessori Bilingual)
• Spanish (Mundo Verde)

The five schools are all planning to expand their current elementary grade offerings up through middle and high school, and will be housed together in one building to create DC International. At full capacity, DCI would enroll 1,000 to 1,400 students  -- including existing students from the member charters  as well as new students -- in grades 6 through 12.

Washington Yu Ying applied to PCSB to amend its charter to accommodate DCI, and the school received approval in December 2012. At next week’s hearing, the public will get a chance to hear the plans of the remaining four schools to expand into DCI.

The hearing will be held at Carlos Rosario International PCS, 1100 Harvard St, NW, at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend the hearing and the public is encouraged to testify. If you are interested in signing up to speak, please contact Isoken Igodan at iigodan@dcpcsb.org.