The District of Columbia schools are in the national spotlight for reform and innovation. Nestled in a vibrant urban setting, our schools are anchors and reflections of their communities and the city as a whole. Despite significant social and economic challenges, DC schools have made positive contributions to historical desegregation, evolving neighborhoods, changing demographics, and the architec
tural cityscape. They have produced great leaders, innovators, and scholars. Each school has a unique story that deserves to be told and used as an ongoing educational tool. Neighborhoods change, residents move, and students often commute to schools distant from where they live. New students, parents, and community members have, in many cases, never considered the roots of their schools and the neighborhood it historically served. By preserving and displaying the community history, we can enrich our newcomers as well as long-term residents with a dynamic cultural and historical understanding of their school. We walk through historical stories every day in Washington DC. We believe that schools are places that tell a critical part of the DC story. By partnering with DCPS, historical depositories, and schools throughout the district, we challenge students to tell their school community's story. Through various types of research and discovery, these students can get a sense of what their community's past and what the future may hold.
