I personally would never send my child to center city. First of all there is no diversity well there is Hispanic in some of the campuses however the majority of the students are african american Which is no big deal except they come with many behavior problems that cente city really hasn't addressed. This school has never had a lottery or waitlist and probably won't until they clean up their act and train theit staff.

are there any more parents of students who attend the Cap. Hill location here? Is there any special education offered at all? We're trying to explore our options, but I can't find anything about special ed at all.

Glad to hear you are considering the Center City Shaw Campus! I am a current Shaw parent and I love the campus because the small environment gives my son the structure and support he needs to be successful. Every teacher knows the students in the school and they call the students “scholars” which gives my son the pride I feel he really needs to do well. I feel welcome as a parent and know the principal and staff are always open to hearing suggestions. I love their open-door policy!

No school is perfect and there is always room to make things better - but always talking to the principal has given me the information I ever needed to make a school choice for my children. Good luck to all of you who are searching!

I am considering the school attached to Immaculate Conception Church near 8th & N which, I think, is now one of the schools that is a part of CCPS.

I am the parent of a Pre-K student at Center City Trinidad Campus. My daughter has two wonderful teachers that has helped her blossom into a well rounded student. My daughter comes home in the evening and tells me about the stories that were read in class and the centers that she rotated to for the day.

The Trinidad Campus offers a wonderful Pre-K program that I would recommend to any parent.

11:57 here. I think I should clarify by saying I don't think the pre-k program is challenging enough for my son as he is an advanced learner for his age (August baby). I am by no means a helicopter mom, but when I hear, "I think your son may be bored in my classroom," it raises a red flag. After meeting with the principal, discussing my concerns, and being informed of his educational assessment, he now goes to K for reading and 1st grade for math.

I am the Principal at Trinidad and I am happy to respond:

At Center City we focus on the development of the whole child: mind, body and spirit. The focus is on facilitating student growth through a hands on approach to learning. Students are challenged to grow and develop at their own pace in a language and print rich environment. Through differentiated instruction and small group work, students are challenged to work at their own pace.

The Pre-K program uses the Opening a World of Learning curriculum and we also incorporate the Reggio Emilia approach. Given the developmental needs of 4 year olds, our Pre-K program also focuses on social and emotional development with an emphasis on building character. This is important because Pre-K is most children’s first introduction to a structured learning environment, and what they learn about what school “means” at 4 years old influences their approach to learning for years to come. So, yes, we do help our students to conceptualize their behavior, but we also ask them about how they feel every day – because these types of conversations are crucial to a 4 year old’s positive growth and understanding of self.

Please note, at Center City we do use data to measure student achievement and we don’t just talk about it in qualitative terms. To quantify student growth, we use both PALS and TEMA assessments for our Pre-K students. In our Winter PALS at Trinidad, for instance, when we gave our 20 Pre-K students the PALS assessment just one month into the school year (in October), 12 out of the 20 students already met the SPRING benchmark. We then retested those students who missed the benchmark in Fall, again in the Winter (in January), and only 2 students total were not yet at the spring benchmark. Essentially, by January of 2010, 18 out of 20 of our Trinidad Pre-K students had already met their spring assessment. I believe that the data shows that our Pre-K program is not only focused on discipline – but rather that our students are making great academic gains, even at the youngest ages. This data-driven understanding of the needs of all our learners is used at each of our campuses and I believe helps us succeed in our mission of developing the whole child.

not good news, 11:57. Does the principal of the Trinidad campus have anything to say about this report?

Anybody else have a kid that goes to Center City?

My son attends the Capitol Hill campus for pre-k. We won't be returning next year. While I think the school is attempting to make big changes, it still has a long way to go. Personally, I don't find the pre-k academically challenging enough and his class is more focused on behavioral discipline than anything else. Instead of my son coming home telling me something new he's learned, he will inform me that he 'stayed on green' and did not have to sit in the time-out chair like so-n-so did.

wow, what a generational legacy you have going and what a beautiful personal story. congratulations, hats off to you, and many many hugs and flowers for your work.

Hello, I am a parent of a current Center City School scholar. My daughter attends the Trinidad Campus, in the Kindergarten class, where I am also the Principal. The Trinidad Campus has a great campus climate, where scholars are motivated to success by the family environment.

Prior to our conversion we were the Holy Name school, where the focus was on engaging the family and community for student success. I attended Holy Name as a student, I also taught Kindergarten and First Grade, and I was the Vice-Principal and I am now the Principal. My mother was a teacher there for 38 years. The conversion has allowed us to provide a quality education to families who were not able to afford our schools when we were Catholic. We are able to offer additional resources like a full time Spanish teacher, a full time Reading Specialist, Instructional Coaches, and an Artist in Residence in order to provide a broad curriculum.

I am excited about where we are and how we are moving - and the fact that we have not lost who we were before the conversion, we have simply added to it! I was unsure about how much to share here because I am the Principal and I don't want to sound like I'm tooting my own horn but the reason I have continued to be a part of this community of schools and the reason my daughter goes there now is because I see, experience, and know firsthand the great things we are doing for the children of DC. The best way to get to know our schools though is to see them for yourself and so I encourage everyone to call a campus and schedule a time to visit.

oh, I don't disagree (I asked the Q). I just want to know. The link itself isn't very informative and I'm actually interested in the Center City schools -- figuring that the Catholic schools were fairly highly regarded so perhaps as charters they are well-kept secrets...

If OP is an employee of Center City, I think it's still 100% appropriate for him/her to have posted--no matter what, I like hearing about (or, in this case, being reminded of) the schools that are out there.

That said, I'd be very interested in hearing from any parents of current Center City students. What's the program like?

So, what's your experience with the Center City schools, OP?

Center City's online application:

www.centercitypcs.org/application/

They have 6 campuses (Brightwood, Capitol Hill, Congress Heights, Petworth, Shaw and Trinidad) that are PreK4 through 8th grade. They were former Catholic schools who converted to charters last school year.