About Us
DC Kids and Schools is a campaign to tell the DC story, one of bold innovation, academic progress, and community-driven results.
DC is leading the way in four key areas: high-quality school options, math and reading growth, college and career-connected learning, and universal Pre-K. We bring together the people, practices, and progress shaping education in the nation’s capital.
The stories featured here are more than local success; they represent models of excellence with relevance far beyond DC. Whether you’re a parent, educator, policymaker, or advocate, you’ll find stories of real impact and inspiration, examples worth exploring, replicating, and scaling.
Our Vision
DC Kids and Schools is a campaign to tell the story of DC education: one of over two decades of bold innovation, academic progress, and community-driven results. Our goal is to be honest about the progress we have made in our schools and the progress we still need to make to ensure every child has an excellent education that meets their unique needs. Together, we lift up the voices of our students, parents, educators, and leaders and open the doors of our schools so that people can learn from us, join together with us, and help us grow.
We’re reshaping the narrative about what’s possible in education, both in DC and across our nation. We celebrate what’s working, spotlight what needs to shift, and center the experiences of all of our students, regardless of where they live or their background. By doing so, we’re creating a vision that inspires action, fosters optimism, and ensures every student has the chance to succeed academically, socially, and beyond graduation.
Our coalition of organizations — from across and in and out of the system — believes every child deserves access to a great education and deserves to chart their own Pre-K through 12th grade education story that unlocks their limitless potential. And we won’t stop until that becomes a reality.
History of DC Kids and Schools
Education policy is shifting. The ripple effects of the pandemic are still being felt in school communities across the country. Parents, students, educators, advocates, and policymakers are speaking up and speaking out that we need to think differently about our education systems.
Over the past two decades, DC has been at the forefront of rethinking education through one of the most robust systems of school choice, first in the nation growth in reading and math, unprecedented access to early childhood education, and strong investments in college and career pathways.
We have brought together a coalition of funders, schools, researchers, policy and advocacy organizations, to build a collective vision for education in DC and elevate our schools as learning labs both locally and nationally to spur progress in every classroom. We want to open our doors, catalyze learning about what we have done to shift our education ecosystem, and invite partners and policymakers from across the country to join with us to keep our momentum going, given that we have so much more to do to ensure every child gets the great education they deserve.