School History
The first César Chávez Public Charter School (Chávez) was founded in 1998 in response to lagging academic performance and exceedingly low high school graduation and college matriculation rates among District of Columbia public school students, especially among minority and low-income students. Founder Irasema Salcido wanted to provide inner-city students with a rigorous, high-quality education that would prepare them for college and inspire them to civic engagement.
The founding Chávez school quickly earned a strong reputation for its rigorous academic curriculum, unique public policy program, top-notch faculty, and comprehensive student support services, which together have ensured that 100% of graduating Chávez seniors have been accepted into at least one college or university. By 2003, Chávez had risen to the top of its local DC market and could not begin to meet the strong parental demand for its program. Thus, the school took the first steps towards expansion, developing a vision of growth that would ultimately have Chávez serving some 3,000 District of Columbia students in grades 6 to 12. The school then redeveloped its board of trustees, gained Charter Board approval to replicate and expand to the lower grades, and partnered with Sallie Mae’s Building Hope A Charter School Facilities Fund.
In 2004, Chávez began its first phase of replication: it opened its second campus – a combined middle and high school. Chávez also transitioned the leadership at the founding high school, established a home office structure to support both Chávez schools, and secured permanent, new facilities for both campuses. These new, top-of-the-line school facilities opened their doors to 900 District of Columbia students in the fall of 2005. In just three years, Chávez had gone from a single high school serving 250 students in temporary facilities, to two permanent campuses providing a high-quality public education to nearly four times as many students.
Chavez continued to successfully manage expansion efforts by opening the Chavez Prep campus in Northwest, DC in September 2008. The campus served 60 students in grades 6 and 7 in 2007-2008, and now serves 160 students in grades 6,7 and 8. The Prep campus will add 9th grade in the Fall of 2010.
By taking the bold step of transforming its single school into a network of small schools, Chávez intends to: 1) ensure that significantly more Washington, DC students have access to a high-quality education that prepares them for success in college and life, 2) develop an ever-growing force of young leaders who have the skills and knowledge to create positive change in their communities and the world around them, and 3) provide a model of replication and school network design for other successful schools to follow.