Dear E.L. Haynes Families and Staff,
I hope you are all enjoying the summer break. While we still have about a month until school begins on August 24, I’m excited to share two important updates that represent major next steps for our school community:
- Growing our Elementary School enrollment: E.L. Haynes will apply to the DC Public Charter School Board for permission to increase enrollment in our Elementary School. Our PK-12 model is our ‘superpower,’ and to fully live this, we need to increase our elementary school to match the size of our upper grades, allowing for an aligned PK-12 experience.
- Leasing a new facility on Taylor Street: We are finalizing a long-term lease for a facility on Taylor Street, close to both the Georgia and Kansas Avenue Campuses. This new space will be reimagined to support our STEAM-powered vision and better serve our students. Exactly how we use it will be shaped together with our community over the coming months.
These initiatives have been years in the making and are central to our renewed vision for Haynes. As you know, I spent my first year listening to our community and learning what matters most to our families and staff. Your input has helped to shape a clear direction for our next chapter: a STEAM-powered PK–12 school that serves a diverse community of DC students through an academically rigorous, deeply engaging educational experience. Expanding our enrollment and creating a new learning space on Taylor Street are both essential steps toward making that vision a reality. These plans are also deeply rooted in our 2020-2025 strategic plan, which charged us to find more space to support student learning and to smooth out enrollment numbers across grade levels.
Below you’ll find more information about each announcement, along with an invitation to join one of our upcoming community webinars to learn more and help shape what comes next.
Expanding Enrollment in Our Elementary School
We are applying to the DC Public Charter School Board to expand enrollment in our Elementary School by adding one additional section each in PK3, PK4, and Kindergarten for the 2027-28 school year. The growth will occur gradually, with the Elementary School reaching full enrollment by the 2036–37 school year.
This expansion supports two important goals. First, it allows us to serve more DC families with the promise of an excellent education while ensuring that Haynes continues to reflect the diversity of the District. Second, it better aligns the size of our Elementary School with our Middle and High Schools, offering opportunities for more students to stay with Haynes for the entire PK-12 continuum.
Leasing a New Facility on Taylor Street
After nearly five years of searching, we are thrilled to have identified a recently vacated property in our neighborhood. We are finalizing the lease agreement for the property at 1291 Taylor Street NW, between Taylor and Upshur Streets. We are particularly excited to have found a property that is in our schools’ current neighborhood, about half a mile (only 5 blocks!) from our existing campuses on Kansas and Georgia Avenues.
As we work toward becoming DC’s first PK–12 STEAM school, this space will allow us to reimagine our campuses and create the learning environments that bring the full array of STEAM-powered opportunities for our students, including expanded arts and performance spaces, science labs, maker spaces, and other innovative learning areas. The building offers tremendous flexibility, including the potential to house one of our schools. Its close proximity to our existing campuses will help strengthen our vision of One Haynes through an integrated academic experience and continued collaboration among students and staff.
Community Involvement
We are committed to keeping our community informed and involved as both the enrollment expansion and facility plans move forward. Over the coming years, and especially during the 2026–27 school year, we will create multiple opportunities for families, staff, and students to share ideas and help shape these plans.
To get started, we invite you to participate in one of the following opportunities.
Haynes Community Webinars
We know you have questions, and while we are still finalizing many details, we invite you to join one of our community webinars next week to learn more about both initiatives. Registration is in your email.
- Wednesday, August 5
6:00–7:00 p.m. - Friday, August 7
10:00–11:00 a.m.
Both webinars will include the same presentation, so please choose the session that best fits your schedule. Spanish interpretation will be available at both sessions, and recordings will be shared afterward for anyone who cannot attend live.
Community Survey
Whether or not you are able to attend a webinar, we would love to hear from you. Please complete this brief survey and share any questions you have. We will compile your questions, address common themes during the webinars, and publish a FAQ for the entire community afterward.
We are incredibly excited about this next chapter for E.L. Haynes. These initiatives will allow us to serve more students, strengthen our schools, and continue building an innovative and rigorous educational model rooted in the DC community. As these plans continue to develop, we look forward to partnering with our staff, families, and students to imagine and create what comes next.
With excitement,
Toni and the E.L. Haynes Board of Trustees