Research Capital City Public Charter School charter Schools in Manassas, Virginia

“Solid school in terms of facility. Great arts program. Needs a shake up in leadership at the very top. Very admin heavy. Not enough experienced teachers who stay in a grade level for more than a few years. Staff seems to train each other rather than get outside experiences. Great adventure program. Children can have fun and learn some. Inconsistent teaching and lack of a strong, clear curriculum can make the experience here very mixed.”

“The school is a sham. They cherry pick the students. If a child has the slightest educational or behavioral problem they set the child up for convenient failure. The academic scores are high b/c the student body is hand picked.”

“I have been here since the school started, and as a 8th grader I have a hard time saying good bye. The staff was excellent, but it is going downhill. The staff has gotten worse and worse. They can't seem to hold a math teacher for over a half of a school year. The teacher left with no replacment. They shouldn't have hired a teacher like that. The replacement is okay, but we've only had him a week or two. The student though, gets a one-on-one learning experiance and gets help when he needs it. Even though the teachers tend to come and go, they are normally highly qualified and a good teacher who cares about the student. The school really feels like one big community, where you know many people. This is not the place to go if you want your child to get a big school experiance though.”

“The main reason we chose Capital City Public Charter School is because there are two teachers in every elementary classroom. This is a great ratio for public school. In addition to two classroom teachers, there is an inclusion teacher for each grade level. Capital City is a small school. There is only one class per grade level PK-8 (elementary classes are combined PreK / K, 1/2, 3/4). Students are offered music, PE, art and drama weekly. This year children will be able to participate in choir, plays and violin lessons afterschool. There is a high level of parent involvement. Parents are required to volunteer 20 hours a year.”

“CCPCS follows a child-focused program of exploratory learning. The principal, Karen Dresden, is an experienced teacher who served as consultant to the parent-led group that established the school six years ago. Problems with overcrowding, as the school grew from PK thru 3rd to now having a full PK - 8th program, have been resolved this Sept. as children reported to a new facility at 15th & Irving Sts NW. The building was once a church and a community center, but it is now modern and airy and state-of-the-art. There is a high level of parent involvement (a minimum of 20 volunteer hours per year is required - many families do much more).”