Smaller and more nimble than the D.C. Public Schools system, the charters have been able to adapt and modify practices on the fly, trading information and pushing the limits of pandemic-era education.
It's a process that the D.C. Public Schools system has watched closely as it plans its own return to the classroom.
“There’s a tremendous amount of trial and error,” said Shannon Hodge of the D.C. Charter School Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for the charter system.
“There are real innovations coming out of it.”Each of the three student “cohorts” at the Social Justice School are assigned a specific bathroom to use.
The school received its approval from the D.C. Public Charter School Board over the summer and opened its doors for the first time this fall.