Capital+City+Public+Charter+Description

By: Kathryn Lyons __**Introduction**__ Capital City Public Charter School was founded by a group of parents and teachers from Phoebe Hearst Elementary School. In 1999, the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board approved our initial charter application, making Capital City the first parent-founded school in Washington, D.C. According to their mission statement, "Capital City Public Charter School enables a diverse group of students to meet high expectations, develop creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, achieve a deep understanding of complex subjects, acquire a love of learning, along with a strong sense of community and character. We will graduate young adults who are self-directed, intellectually engaged and committed to personal and civic responsibility."

__**School Demographics and Location**__ The area of the school is very diverse and poor. The District of Columbia is one of the largest and poorest cities in the United States consisting of 617,996 people. It has a lot of people in poverty and with low income, but this may be also due to the fact it is one the of the largest cities. Capital City Public Charter Upper School is located on 100 Peabody Street NW, District of Columbia, Washington D.C.

About 584,583 according to the U.S Census Bureau in 2011 were claimed to be "impoverished" in the District of Columbia. 51% percent of the population in the District of Columbia are African-American, about 42% are White, 5% Asian and 9% Hispanic. Compared to the District of Columbia, at the Capital City Upper School, about 46% percent of the student population are Hispanic, 36% are Black, but not Hispanic, 11% are White and not Hispanic, 4% are other and 3% are Asian. About 77% percent of upper school students are eligible for free/reduced lunch. __**Student Achievement**__ For Student Achievement, according to the AYP Report Card Capital City PCS-Upper School has not been passing the standardized score from 2009-2011 but it only displays Hispanics, Blacks, and the disabled. It does not display whether Asians, Whites, or American Indians have been passing the standardized score for reading. For math, Black students did not pass the standardized score in 2009. However, they did pass in 2010 but then the evidence shows they did not pass in 2011. Hispanics have not passed in math for 2009 or 2010, but then passed in 2011. Since Hispanics make up a great deal of the school's population, that does show student's improvement in math over the years. Again it does not show passing scores for Whites or Asians or American Indians, but this may be due to the fact they make up a very little percentage of the student population at the school so they cannot accurately say whether they have passing scores or not overall. The attendance rate at this school has always been good from 2009-2011. It definitely shows a great amount of effort has been put in by the students to improve if they are attending school everyday, and making improvements in some subjects over the years.

__**Teaching**__ The teaching staff at this school holds a great amount of bright, understanding, caring teachers who want to help children excel outside of High School. One of the teachers, Erin Monét Cooper, is an English teacher who joined Capital City in August 2011. She has an M.A. in African Studies from Boston University and a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Georgia. She is a graduate of the New Teacher’s Academy. Monét was artist-in-residence and poetry instructor at the American Poetry Museum in Washington, D.C. She has been a mentor and tutor for Asian American Lead and a reading instructor for the D.C. College Success Foundation. Evidence shows that this school has a lot of well-rounded, highly qualified, bright teachers like Erin who are bright in many areas of education. This type of qualification and brightness could really motivate children to try out different activities and organizations to join in the future. Not to mention, the principle at the school, Kathy Byrd, joined Capital City in 2008. She is the founding Principal of the Upper School. She was awarded the 2012 Most Outstanding High School Principal Award at the DC Association of Chartered Public School’s STARS Tribute.

__**After School**__ Capital City offers a wide variety of seasonal sports, arts and enrichment activities after school for middle and high school students. Activities are free and all students are encouraged to participate. The fact that all the activities are free to students I find is very helpful because about 65% of the student population come from low-income families so this really helps kids to stay out of trouble and keep active after school, while relieving economic stress on the family. Given the wide age span served, not all activities are open to all grade levels.Typical activities include soccer, flag football, cross-country running, cheerleading, swimming, basketball, tennis, track and field. There is also dance and step, drama, drumline, steel drum band, chorus, studio art, graffiti art, electronic music. Some clubs or organizations to join are yearbook, debate, Botball®, student government, SAT/ACT Prep. The school does make sure that the student knows in order to participate in any sports/clubs/organizations or any other activities you maintain a strong academic rate.

__**Conclusion**__ In conclusion, Capital City Public Charter School-Upper School is one of the best and most well-rounded charter schools in all of D.C. It provides a safe environment for students to focus in. It has a very diverse group of students and teachers that allows kids to be comfortable with one another and not have to worry about one's race or ethnicity. The school has been making significant improvement in areas like Math and is still progressing to reach all kid's specific developing needs in reading or other subjects that one may be lacking achievement in. The school provides many extra-curricular activities like sports, clubs, arts/dance, or enrichment organizations like SAT Prep to stay busy and focused. The best part is, the student does not even need to pay for it like a regular public school student needs to. There are teachers with high academic careers in many fields from all over the country. The principle received an award just this past year, and the school as a whole was claimed to be one of the best charter schools in D.C which shows that this school overall is on the brink of being on the best in the country. Even with odds stacked against them coming from low-income families, the students being put in a stable, comfortable, and motivational environment will help achieve academic success in the long-run.