When Founder and Head of School Jennie Niles and the charter development team created E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, their vision was to create an outstanding public school to provide the highest quality education to its students and families from pre-k through twelfth grade.  In addition, they expressly envisioned for the school to make a broader impact on education in DC and across the country.   

E.L. Haynes makes a broader impact in several key ways, including hosting local, national and international educators and leaders seeking to learn from our program of effective practices.  In the past two years, more than 600 educators have visited E.L. Haynes from across the country and around the world. 

We have created this page to share some of our best practices with other schools, educational organizations, and policy makers.

Introduction to E.L. Haynes Powerpoint Presentation

• Data-Driven Instruction (DDI)
  At E.L. Haynes, we evaluate our educational practices based on their impact on student learning.  We consistently ask, “What did our students learn and how do we know?”  To answer these questions, our Instructional Leadership Team has developed a process for using student data.  The process is designed to help teachers make instructional decisions based on student learning.

• Empowering Students with Data
  E.L. Haynes sees an opportunity to transform students’ ownership of their learning with the intersection of three developments in technology and education:  1) the explosion of on-line content, 2) improved data systems to track student achievement data, and 3) the adoption of the Common Core Standards.  In partnership with Acumen Solutions, E.L. Haynes is developing an online system that will allow students to track their own performance, manage their schedule, collaborate with other students, and complete coursework. This workshop will focus on the system’s data management component and how the school plans to engage students through their own performance data.

• Professional Learning Communities
  The professional learning community (PLC) at E.L. Haynes is rooted in the school’s mission, providing critical learning spaces for adult learners to focus on results and ensure that all students learn at high levels. Framed in a culture of collaboration, these learning spaces framed foster equity of voice using high yield protocols. E.L. Haynes uses most of the 200 hours of the annual professional development time in PLC structures including analysis of data in grade level teams, literacy coaching sessions, student support teams, etc.  This workshop will review the structure of E.L. Haynes’ PLC and the high yield protocols that accelerate progress towards our goals.

• Capital Teaching Residency
  The Capital Teaching Residency (CTR) is a joint teacher training program between E.L. Haynes and KIPP DC.  The mission of CTR is to increase the number of highly effective educators in the District of Columbia by training aspiring teachers through an intensive one-year residency in a high performing public charter school. CTR partners with The New Teacher Project to certify residents in special education, early childhood, and secondary math and science.  By 2015, CTR will train over 200 teachers and will impact over 16,000 students.

• The Achievement Network
  The Achievement Network (ANet) provides urban, low-income schools with effective data-driven strategies to identify and close gaps in student learning, and helps schools embed these strategies into their everyday routines
  to measurably close the achievement gap.  In addition to partnering with E.L. Haynes, ANet currently works with 167 schools in six geographic Networks.

• Power of Planning Project
  The Power of Planning (PoP) project, designed and led by E.L. Haynes, brought together a consortium of District of Columbia schools to create, implement, and refine a model for data-driven instruction and standards-based long term planning.  The soon-to-be-completed POP website will offer a rich set of tools, videos, protocols, and insights.

• Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)
  E.L. Haynes has a STEM-enhanced curriculum, meaning students (beginning in Pre-K) spend significantly more time doing STEM-related learning than in typical schools.  Each spring, every grade embarks on a long-term exploration of a single science-based topic in-depth and from a variety of angles.  Additionally, our dedicated STEM Advisory Board, comprised of scientists and education experts, supports us as we continually improve our STEM programming.

• Special Education
  E.L. Haynes values diversity and believes that all students benefit from the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. At E.L. Haynes, students with disabilities receive the majority of their services within the classroom setting through collaborative efforts of inclusion teachers, therapists, and general education teachers.  

• Teacher Recruitment and Selection
  Exceptional teachers are central to E.L. Haynes success. To ensure every student has an outstanding teacher, E.L. Haynes has developed a targeted recruitment strategy and rigorous selection process.  All teachers must have at least two years of teaching experience, show a proven track record of driving student achievement, and give a demonstration lesson to be considered for a position at E.L. Haynes.

• Year Round Calendar and Programming
  While typical schools offer 1,200 hours of mandatory instruction, E.L. Haynes offers 1,200 plus an additional 1,000 hours of academic enrichment to level the playing field so that every student is prepared for college.  This programming is provided free of charge to our Title I students.  In total, we operate from 7:30am to 6:00pm every day for 47 weeks each year.