A Public Education System Co-Designed to Serve and Empower all students.

Given the long history of institutional racism in schools, we center race in our work. We embrace the curiosity and boldness needed to envision a more equitable school system for students furthest from opportunity. We acknowledge that the work of eliminating inequity, racism, and other forms of bias in ourselves and in society is continuous, hard, necessary work done with—and not for—historically underrepresented communities in DC.

We set a high bar for our work—we are collaborative in both the process and the product—as we work alongside schools, LEAs, community-based organizations, and government partners. We set clear goals, assess tangible progress, and prioritize meaningful improvement and development. We embrace the learnings from our successes and failures and hold ourselves and our partners accountable. Ultimately, what we do drives better outcomes for our students, schools, and communities.

We embrace the curiosity and boldness needed to envision—and build—what does not yet exist. We dream expansively, learn voraciously, and dare greatly in service of DC students and schools. We dream of a day where every student, regardless of race or background, has access to a future filled with choice.

We model the future we want to build—through our relationships with each other, our schools, and our citywide leaders. We invite diverse perspectives, build inclusive coalitions, and collaborate intentionally with all who strive to create a brighter future for DC students.

We recognize that schools are delicate, dynamic, and intricate communities and the work of redesigning those places and systems can be complex and frustrating work—and no one can do it alone or perfectly. We extend generosity and forgiveness when mistakes are made and learn alongside each other in our journey toward a more just public school system.