CityBridge Education

Washington, DC is the first city-level proof point for an excellent and equitable public education system. We incubate the people, ideas, and conversations needed for equity-driven innovation in DCs public schools. At CityBridge, we are guided by an unshakable belief in the equal worth of every person: Regardless of station, regardless of calling,... every individual has equal value and deserves access to abundant opportunity. For us, this belief translates into service to the children of Washington, D.C., where the majority of schoolchildren face some disadvantage or adversity. We believe education is the best and most promising tool to address these inequities. CityBridge Education represents the early stage of the school development pipeline. In partnership with D.C.s traditional public (DCPS) and charter sectors, we incubate and launch new, innovative schools and projects. Our city has had a uniqueand almost startlingdecade of educational success, acknowledged nationwide as a model for urban reform. But success begs the question that informs our new body of work: Whats next? How do we acknowledge and celebrate progress while calling urgent attention to the majority of our students who are still not college-ready? How do we create the entrepreneurial energy and political climate to deliver the next level of opportunity for all students? And how should the next portfolio of schools and ventures differ from our best models today? In answering these questions, CityBridge stands on the shoulders of the groundbreaking work done by friends and treasured colleagues in D.C. We have learned from the pioneering human capital reforms led by Michelle Rhee and Kaya Henderson in DCPS and from stand-out charter performers, like KIPP, DC Prep, and Two Rivers, whose work proves every day that the achievement gap can be closed. Our portfolio should build on that cumulative success and add the new strategies, technologies, and ideas that, together, will yield the next generation of excellent schooling.Read More