CDF Freedom Schools® Program in Washington, D.C.

A 5-week summer reading enrichment program at no cost to families. CDF Freedom Schools empowers scholars to believe in their ability and responsibility to make a difference while instilling in them a love of reading to help children avoid summer learning loss.

For more information or questions, please contact Joy Masha, Program Administrator, at jmasha@childrensdefense.org​.

CDF Freedom Schools® sites serve children and families after school and during the summer months at CDF-approved DC public schools. Currently, there are multiple D.C.-based CDF Freedom Schools sites located across Wards 5, 7, and 8.

Through the CDF Freedom Schools model, we empower youth to excel and believe in their ability to make a difference in themselves, their families, communities, country and world with hope, education and action.

The CDF Freedom Schools program enhances children’s motivation to read and makes them feel good about learning by exposing them to a research-based curriculum featuring culturally relevant books. At the same time, the program connects families to the right resources in their communities. What sets the CDF Freedom Schools program apart is a focus on enriching the whole child, meaning students and families enrolled in our programming will have access to:

• High quality academic enrichment through our research-based, multicultural social justice and conflict-resolution curriculum known as the Integrated Reading Curriculum (IRC).
• Parent and family development through weekly parent meetings, frequent family check-ins, engagement opportunities, competitions, and more!
• Civic engagement and social action through lessons about social action and participation in our National Day of Social Action (NDSA) during which all CDF Freedom Schools students nationwide participate in a collective action to bring about social change.
• Nutrition, health and mental health through sharing knowledge and resources for accessing food, mental health care and other basic needs.

For more information or questions, please contact Joy Masha, Program Administrator at jmasha@childrensdefense.org​.