About
Washington Latin is a liberal arts, college preparatory network of schools with a classical mission. We serve more than 1,000 students in grades 5-12 from across the District across our two campuses.
The two campuses of Washington Latin Public Charter Schools offer students in the nation’s capitol a rich and comprehensive academic program in the classical tradition. In an era of growing homogenization in education, we offer a truly unique experience. We believe that education is a training of character, and character is the intersection of intellectual development and moral integrity. Our program focuses on developing each student’s ability to be thoughtful, to consider the views and needs of others, and to act with integrity. We aim to develop students to be thoughtful people who will contribute to the public good and continue a life-long quest towards a fuller humanity.
Effective education not only cultivates the intellect and sparks the imagination, but also nurtures the spirit and trains the body. With this holistic approach, Washington Latin graduates students with an ambition for lives that are both personally fulfilling and of service to others.
Peter anderson, ceo & head of schools
Our Essential Characteristics
Our schools are grounded in a few essential characteristics, which shape the Washington Latin experience for our faculty, students, and families – the classical mission, faculty excellence and autonomy, a diverse and integrated community, and a personal and nurturing culture.
Classical Mission
Our model brings together timeless truths from antiquity with the study of contemporary issues through a broad liberal arts curriculum, aimed at helping our students develop both their autonomy as individuals and their commitment to the common good. We ask students to consider moral issues across every subject and grade, particularly through regular Socratic seminars that help them to develop informed, reasoned and flexible opinions. This ability to engage in civil debate is a keystone of our democratic society and thus an important element of our program.
Faculty Excellence & Autonomy
Our leaders are teachers, and our teachers are leaders. They bring expertise in and passion for their fields of study to their classrooms. We grant them autonomy in curricular and teaching choices, while at the same time providing personal support and opportunities for their professional development. Above all, we respect and nurture their intellect and humanity. The result: a stable cadre of excellent teachers, close-knit as a community and devoted to their students’ long-term success.
Personal, Nurturing Culture
Washington Latin is deliberately small (overall and in terms of class sizes), so that everyone is known as a scholar and an individual. We aim for mutual trust and respect to foster intellectual curiosity and creativity. We want students and faculty to feel a sense of community that encourages them to try something new, challenge ideas, make mistakes, and step up as leaders.
Our History
Washington Latin began in 2006. We started small, with 179 students in grades 5-7, occupying a church near the Washington National Cathedral. In each of the next five years, we added a grade until reaching our full complement of grades (5-12) in 2011-12. Our first class graduated in 2012, and eight others have followed for a total of nearly 1,000 Washington Latin graduates.
In less than a decade, the school’s dedicated and experienced leaders built our academic program, recruited a talented faculty and staff, and developed our culture and community. During these early years, the school occupied a variety of temporary locations but continued to attract families who saw the value of this classical model and trusted in our ability to deliver a quality education through this period of growth.
A Commitment to Equity and Access
In 2022, our organization began a new chapter with the opening of our second campus. Our goal: to make our unique brand of classical yet modern education accessible to more families across DC. After careful consideration of a variety of ways to grow, Latin’s leadership committed to creating another campus offering the same Latin classical education for the modern world to another 740 students across grades 5-12. We recruit and serve students from all backgrounds, including those who might be at risk for academic struggles or arrive below grade level. This commitment to equity remains central to our program.
