Karen Dresden- the founding principal and head of school at Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.- reflects on her experience of the Obama presidency, and shares memories of her encounters with Barack and Michelle Obama and other members of the administration. Dresden outlines the founding and evolution of Capital City and describes the school's expeditionary pedagogy. She tells th e stories of notable visits by administration officials and encounters between Capital City students and the administration, including the February 2009 visit by the president, first lady, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (Obama's first school visit as president); Michelle Obama's December 2014 visit associated with her Reach Higher college attainment initiative; and students' visit to the White House Kitchen Garden to harvest vegetables with the first lady. Also discussed are the Obama administration's focus on innovation in education, the implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, the impact of the murder of Trayvon Martin on Capital City's students, the effects of the My Brother's Keeper initiative on Capital City's participating students, and efforts to promote conversations about race and equity at school
Presidents--United States; Charter schools--United States; Common Core State Standards (Education); Dresden, Karen; Obama, Barack; Obama, Michelle, 1964-; Martin, Trayvon, 1995-2012; United States. My Brother's Keeper Task Force
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
29 pages
Note (Biographical)
Karen Dresden is an American educator and school administrator. At the time of the interview, she was the founding principal, and had served as head of school, at Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. since 2000. She was involved in a ll aspects of the start-up of Capital City, including the development of the curriculum and the school's plan for accountability and assessment. Under Dresden's leadership, the school was accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) and received other awards and distinctions, including the Public Charter School Board Chair's award for outstanding performance. In 2009, in his first visit to any school as president, President Obama visited the Capital City Charter School. He was joined by First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
Note
Interviewed by Terrell D. Frazier on March 24, 2022. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Karen Dresden, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023