Power Our Schools

When we build power together, we don’t just improve schools— we change the future.

"never let up… never back down… never cease working…”

~ Gardner Bishop, Founder of the DC’s Consolidated Group (CPG)

Power Our Schools is CARE DC’s community organizing and civic engagement initiative—grounded in the belief that the people closest to the challenges are also closest to the solutions.

  • What We Do

    Activate the Village
    We organize at least 1% of each school’s community to become active participants in shaping the trajectory of their neighborhood school. From volunteering and attending meetings to leading initiatives, we help neighbors move from concern to coordinated action.

    Cultivate Leadership
    Through community meetings, partnerships, and trainings, we grow the civic knowledge and organizing skills of everyday residents. Families and neighbors become equipped to advocate, strategize, and lead—for safety, equity, and excellence.

  • A Walking Bus. A Vision Forward.

    While DC’s Safe Passage initiative ensures students get to and from school safely, our Walking Bus model takes it further: It’s not just about making it to school safely—it’s about making it in life.

    Community members literally walk alongside youth—offering safety, mentorship, encouragement, and connection. Every step is a reminder: you are not alone, and your life matters. It’s a daily act of protection and promise.

  • For the Block, By the Block.

    Power Our Schools plants seeds of transformation by helping neighbors strategically plan the future of their schools. From helping to organize coat drives to showing up at school board meetings, from hosting community yard sales to building mutual aid networks—residents rise together to build stronger schools, safer neighborhoods, and a brighter future for the students down the block.

    Because when we organize, we win.

  • Youth-led Civic Efficacy

    CARE DC supports youth-led civic power by serving as the adult partner and structural support that helps young people lead with strength and confidence. We sponsor and cultivate safe spaces for youth to create change in their schools and neighborhoods, building a pipeline of justice leaders for generations to come.

Power Our Schools: Building on the Legacy of the Consolidated Parents Group (CPG)

Power Our Schools walks in the footsteps of DC’s Consolidated Parents Group (CPG)—a powerful chapter-based movement of Black parents in the 1940s and '50s who organized to dismantle segregation and demand equity in education. These were everyday people—mothers, fathers, neighbors—who knew that justice didn’t begin in courtrooms, but in neighborhoods, around kitchen tables, and in the hearts of those raising the next generation.

Just like CPG, Power Our Schools is community-driven and centered—a for-us-by-us movement where families, educators, and neighbors organize to shape the future of their neighborhood schools.

While CPG led the charge for integration and accountability, Power Our Schools expands that charge for transformation and self-determination. Through initiatives like the Walking Bus, mutual aid, community advocacy, and civic training, today’s families are still fighting for safe passage—not just to school, but to opportunity, liberation, and life.

Both movements recognize a fundamental truth:
when families organize, schools change—
and when communities build power, they build futures.

Power Our Schools doesn’t just draw inspiration from CPG—it extends the torch they lit. From courtrooms to classrooms, from block to boardroom, the movement continues.

Recess at the Capitol: When Community Takes a Stand

Recess at the Capitol began on a Monday night during CARE Anacostia’s virtual community meeting, when Ward 8 State Board of Education Representative LaJoy Johnson Law voiced outrage over a sudden $1 billion cut from DC’s budget—cuts that would have a devastating impact on public schools, especially in Ward 8. Law challenged us to bring children to the Capitol “so they can see exactly” who they are cutting funding from - children in our schools.

Allyson Criner Brown amplified the vision and pushed it into reality. Within 72 hours—and with the support of several community partners—700 families gathered at the Capitol to demand justice. Their voices and presence helped push forward the DC Local Budget Act.

Determined to keep the momentum, the original organizers stayed connected through a text chain, sparking Recess at the Capitol, Part 2. This time, 250 families came together, and Ward 8 residents stood up, spoke out, and rose to the occasion alongside DC families from across the city.

This was diversity in action—collective power on full display. Together, we showed what happens when a united city fights as one: we change the conversation, and we change the future.

📣 Get Involved

✅ Want to start a Walking Bus?
✅ Ready to bring your skills or voice to your local school?
✅ Interested in becoming part of the 1% building power for progress?

Let’s walk together. Let’s lead together. Let’s Power Our Schools.

Learn more at carewashdc.org/powerourschools
Contact us: info@carewashdc.org