Blog

For my five children, my husband and I made the decision to homeschool. We had considered homeschooling before the pandemic, and with the onset of the pandemic, virtual learning in my house meant constant calls from five teachers, managing five children’s differing schedules, and too much learning on a screen. We decided it was time […]

Ward 7

We already lived in a cold house with a leaking roof, moldy walls, peeling paint, and no home cooking because the oven hasn’t worked in years, and now we had to spend long days in these horrid conditions. That’s how homeschooling and quarantine began in March 2020 for my five children and me. Most of […]

Ward 4

NOTE: This blog is translated in both Spanish and English. Scroll down to read the blog in English.  El impacto que ha tenido la pandemia en las escuelas va más allá del aula virtual. Como madre de tres hijas con diferentes necesidades, siento que nuestro precario sistema educativo no ha sabido darle el apoyo necesario […]

Ward 5

2020 was too much death. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve lost three uncles, one of whom was like a father to me. My life felt like it ended with his passing. I received the call that he died at 4:00 a.m, yet the last time I had spoken with him was just 15 […]

Ward 8

The old adage goes “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Growing up, I believed this wholeheartedly. I had to believe it so I could believe less in the nicknames given to me by some family members, teachers, and grade-school friends: scatterbrained, clumsy, forgetful, danger-prone, lazy, disorganized, unfocused, messy, […]

Ward 4

Teaching in person and teaching remotely is a vastly different experience for students, teachers, and parents alike. My 5-year-old daughter, Z, is competitive, extroverted, and curious. Like many students across the district did in September, Z started a brand-new school remotely where she was confronted with unfamiliar teachers, classmates, norms, and curriculum, as well as […]

Ward 8

My son is thriving academically by learning from home. But he and I are not thriving when it comes to our social-emotional and mental health.  For my son, learning from home and being away from his teachers and friends has led to meltdowns outside of learning time. My son now talks about never wanting to […]

Ward 7

During the regular school year in pre-pandemic times, my daughter thrived from a good daily structure: A clear schedule that students and teachers followed and clear spaces where my daughter could do her school work. Now that we are learning from home, my daughter is struggling. Her schedule is different everyday and the distractions are […]

Ward 7

Read Ward 4 PLE Board Member Cathaleen Skinner’s story of how her family fought for her daughters’ rights and how this has transformed her vision for education in DC. “I have a vision of honesty and transparency in our public education system. I support school choice because it works for my children.”

I just got back from the Connecting Communities of Courage summit held at Facebook’s headquarters. I could play it cool and pretend that I wasn’t excited to be there, but I’d be lying. It was awesome just to be able to roam the floor and take in all the vibrant posters about empowerment that hung […]

Read Ward 1 PAVE PLE Board Member Miriam Perlacio’s story of how she was motivated to become a parent leader after learning about the obstacles non-native English speaking families face when trying to access educational opportunities in our city.

I have been a native Washingtonian and a Ward 7 resident my entire life. From my first day attending Beers Elementary School as a child, to sending my oldest son to his first day of middle school at Inspired Teaching PCS, I have seen the complete evolution of our public education system. My passion for advocacy […]

As a DC native and Ward 7 resident, I am truly invested in what is happening in my community. Particularly as a parent, I want to make sure that my boys are afforded opportunities that lead them to become successful men. I started to get involved in my sons’ education by becoming a member of KIPP Parents […]

Washington Latin Public Charter School provides a rigorous, traditional classical curriculum to children from all parts of Washington DC. It’s one of the growing number of DC public charter schools that’s diverse both ethnically and economically, and it’s providing my two daughters a quality education. I’ve been closely involved with Washington Latin over the years: from helping Latin get a certificate […]

I have worked within the DC political ecosystem in one way or another since 1999, starting in Mayor Anthony Williams’ administration. Although my world was policy and politics, I never paid much attention to DC’s education system, and more specifically, the “new” public charter school movement. That all changed in August of 2009 when I […]

My name is LaJoy Johnson-Law (everyone just calls me Ms. Law) and I am a resident of Ward 8. I have a 5-year-old daughter named Abria, and she attends Rocketship Rise Academy in Ward 8. As a parent leader in the community, I feel there is a strong need for parent voice in education. There […]

Although I am not a native Washingtonian, I have called DC home for a major portion of my life. When my husband and I moved to DC, we selected where we would live based on what we could afford and where we worked. When we started our family, the thought of finding the right school […]

I am a fifth-generation Washingtonian and I come from a long line of educators, so education has been highly valued in my family for generations. We were taught that a fine education could take you anywhere you wanted to go in life, and that no one could ever take it away. So when our son […]

I have lived in Adams Morgan in Ward 1 since 1998, and am fortunate to have Oyster-Adams Bilingual School as my DCPS neighborhood school. My husband is of Cuban descent, and therefore bilingual education has been a priority for my girls, now 11 and 13. While Oyster-Adams is a great environment for my youngest, when […]