DISTRICT COLUMBIA

GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Extensive stakeholder engagement included
approximately 40 stakeholder meetings with City
Council members, District agency officials, community
groups, parents and students, and an intensive, threemonth
brainstorming process with a working group of
stakeholders. From this public process, the following
principles emerged to guide this Master Facilities
Plan. They served as the lens through which need was
assessed and recommendations were made.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE ONE: EQUITY-
FOCUSED PLANNING.
» Provide equitable access to capital resources to
meet student needs.
» Provide both facility and program resources
where needed and tie these resources to clear
and enforceable accountability measures.
» Provide full, not phased, modernizations for
some DCPS facilities.
» Encourage mixed-use development to make
school modernizations and new construction
easier to finance.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE TWO: BUILD
FACILITIES AROUND QUALITY
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
Ensure school facility design supports educational
programs while maximizing flexibility, sustainability,
security and community involvement.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE THREE: ALIGN
INVESTMENTS WITH PROJECTED
STUDENT DEMAND.
Schedule facility planning and modernization, and
locate new schools to inspire confidence in a student’s
continuous access to quality schools throughout his or
her time in public schools (i.e., feeder patterns). These
investments should align with regularly updated student
enrollment forecasts and other trends, including schoolaged
children population projections.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE FOUR: INVEST IN
OUR COMMITMENT TO CRADLE-TO-
CAREER EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.
Expand access to quality early childhood programs and to
workforce training opportunities.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE FIVE: INCREASE
COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIP
AMONG SERVICE PROVIDERS.
Strengthen collaboration among District public schools
and charter schools through sharing space, knowledge
and best practices to improve quality. Embrace
partnerships with outside groups, such as museums,
universities, community-based organizations and privatesector
partners, to increase opportunities for students.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE SIX: DESIGN
COMMUNITY-CENTERED SCHOOLS.
Design and operate schools as centers of the community
that support high quality educational outcomes and
encourage a mix of community use, services and
programs.
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