Columbia Heights Educational Campus

Welcome to the homepage of the Columbia Heights Educational Campus. As we start the year, it is a time to celebrate the successes of the past year, and look forward to the hopes and excitement of the year we are beginning.

Last year saw many outstanding accomplishments for both Lincoln Multicultural Middle School, and Bell Multicultural High School. The most significant achievement was the transition process which united the two schools, to create the city's first and only Grade 6 through 12 Early College Campus. Teachers, administrators, parents and students from both schools met regularly, and worked diligently to combine the programs of the two schools, and to create a new and exciting educational campus.

Bell Multicultural High School was named by Newsweek Magazine as one of the top 100 high schools in the United States! This honor was based on the level of rigor we provide through our Advanced Placement program.

Our progress in meeting No Child Left Behind academic targets, also showed great improvement, with Bell making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in both Reading and Math, and impressive gains of 20 percentage points in Math, and 17 percentage points in English. This is the highest rate of gain for any secondary school in the city, public or charter. Lincoln Multicultural Middle School made significant gains in Math, increasing scores by 12 percentage points.

One of the goals of the new campus is to prepare all students to enter college or post secondary training. Last year's graduating class continued the trend we have established of obtaining more scholarships and financial aid for our senior class. The class of 2008 collected over $3,000,000 in scholarships and grants. We have high hopes for the class of 2009, and many of them have worked over the summer on preparing their applications. This year, we will begin to share information on college to students and parents, starting in the sixth grade. In this way, we can make sure that students begin early to develop the habits that will help them succeed in college.

Our school is committed to creating learning experiences which focus on rigor, relevance and social justice. Every teacher, administrator, and staff member at Bell/Lincoln Multicultural School stands ready to work with each and every student, so that all students can experience academic success and excitement in learning. We want every student to come to school each day knowing that he or she will learn something new and interesting. We expect each student to commit to creating and maintaining a learning community and building which helps all students to reach high standards. Have a wonderful school year, and let's work together relentlessly as students, parents and educators.

Sincerely,

Maria Tukeva
Principal