Daniel Reese and I are speaking in an upstairs office at St. Coletta of Greater Washington (1901 Independence Ave. SE). Outside, families stream toward the building for convocation that afternoon. Reese, who graduated in 2012, remembers it well. “Everyone’s dressed up,” he recalled, “and they’re just all pumped up,” he said, “and [thinking] ‘I made it through, all the way.’”
The St. Coletta mission is to empower children and adults with intellectual disabilities to discover their full potential. The school now serves 270 students ages 3-22 in Hill East and 220 adults at day service centers in Rockville, MD and Alexandria, VA. This year, St. Coletta turns 65, and the charter school celebrates 20 years on Capitol Hill.
Many students have one-to-one support. Reese came to the school in 2006 after his parents read about it in a newspaper. He had been enrolled at his local middle school, but neither he nor his parents were happy. There was frequent conflict and his parents felt the staff could not meet their son’s special education needs.
After touring the Alexandria facility, Reese joined the first cohort in the brand-new Hill East charter school building. He has never truly left. Upon graduation, he became a facilities assistant. Now nearing completion of his plumbing certification, he plans to stay on.
History
Founded in 1959 in Arlington, VA, by parents of a child with Down’s Syndrome, St. Coletta relocated several times before Executive Director Sharon Raimo bought a building in Alexandria, VA, in 1996. Then in 2006, the new Hill East school opened across Independence Avenue from Stadium Armory.
Most Hill residents know the building by its bold Michael Graves design. Each of the five “houses” is distinguished by shape and color outside and delineated again by cheery colors inside. Houses group students loosely by age, from 3–6 in house one to adults 18–22 in house five. Classrooms hold 8–12 students with a lead teacher and paraprofessionals as required by each student’s individual education plan (IEP).
The 99,000-square-foot school includes a gym, basketball court, adapted playground, sensory room, hydrotherapy pool, and kitchens in houses four and five.
Kaiheem Mason, now Chief Operating Officer (COO), joined as HR manager halfway through the school’s first year. “It was the best thing I’ve ever done,” Mason said. He recalled being in awe of Raimo, the students, and the staff. “Raimo just was willing to install as much time and energy as it took in a vision to develop the school and as it relates to our staff, she just cared and she made sure everyone else cared,” he said. He remembers a part of Raimo’s philosophy: a pristine environment shows respect. It’s one of the values that still guides the school —and Reese.
Beyond the Building
The building itself is on many District “must see” lists. “But what makes it magic is not the outside of the building, it’s who’s inside,” said CEO Mike Rodrigues.
Rodrigues joined in 2021 after Raimo stepped down the year before, bringing 30 years of experience in disability services to St. Coletta which he calls his “dream organization.”
Rodrigues lives nearby. He walks to work, entering his office daily through the “village ring,” the long corridor at the center of the St. Coletta building that unites the houses. By the time he reaches his office, he said, “I’ve got, you know, five hugs and 10 high fives and seven Happy Mondays. It’s a joyous place. I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
Each student’s education is tailored to their needs, he said. Of 250 enrolled last year, 132 required one-to-one support. The curriculum blends academics with life skills, arts, technical training, and vocational programs. From age 12, students begin transition training such as money management. By house five, they work at job sites in the community, learning transportation, social skills, and job readiness.
“Many of them work harder just getting ready in the morning to get here than most of the rest of us do all day long,” Rodrigues said.
Family engagement and community building is key. About 60 percent of students come from wards 7 and 8, though families attend from all over the District and beyond. That means that the school has gotten fairly good at knitting a community together despite disparate home lives and locations.
The adult programs in Alexandria and Rockville offer vocational training, supported employment, and community integration. Coletta Collections (www.colettacollections.com) sells jewelry, accessories and décor. These are made by program participants employed as artisans at both adult sites, with Rockville students handling fulfillment shipping.
Future
Raimo originally intended the school to be a private-public partnership. But, she told the Capitol Hill History Project, as opening neared officials insisted St. Coletta open as a public charter school, accessible to District residents via the school lottery. But given that many students required 1-1 attention, Raimo knew that charter school money would not be enough for the programming.
The city initially covered the difference through a supplement to the school’s budget. That supplement, however, lapsed in 2017. The school estimates they have a $2.6 million deficit entering the 2025-26 school year. Families have told DC Council that this lapse could be addressed if the school system would implement Level 5 Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) funding for the highest need students in fiscal year 2027.
That recommendation, applicable to students with disabilities who need a full-time paraprofessional, was made by a 2024 Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) working group.
The organization has done everything it can to make up the difference, organizing advocacy and trying to do more with less so students get everything they deserve. Rodrigues said the goal is the highest quality service every day. Growth to St. Coletta is about finding the best way to fill the needs of the next person who comes to them in the best way possible.
Current events pose another variable, the CEO said, not just in terms of what it means for revenue streams but what it means for the families in the hours they are not at school —and what the St. Coletta team can do about it when they are. St. Coletta strives to increase their quality of service, year over year, “One person at a time, one family at a time,” Rodrigues said.
Opening Doors
Part of their growth strategy is to open doors between St. Coletta and the wider community. Mason would like to see an expansion of early childhood programs, to support more kids under 6 at St. Coletta. He has hopes that the school could become a community resource, helping to educate neighbors about disability services and prepare them to receive adults and students with support. Finally, he hopes one day the school will be in a financial position to do workplace development.
As the city works out plans for development on RFK Campus around a Commanders stadium, St. Coletta faces changes along with the neighborhood. Rodrigues said this moment, with all eyes turned to the east end of Independence Avenue, is an opportunity to inform the District about what happens at St. Coletta. The building has been the site of town halls between residents, government officials and the team. Rodrigues said the school has met with a representative of the Commanders football team to discuss opportunities for both the school and the team.
Rodrigues invites neighbors to tour the school and welcomes volunteers, businesses and job site partners. COO Mason agrees. “Once we get you in, we know we have you at that point,” Mason said. “It’s just like what I went through in 2007 once I came in. It’s just very difficult to separate from the magic that happens here.”
Learn more about how you can get involved with St. Coletta of Greater Washington at stcoletta.org. Shop the Coletta Collections at colettacollections.com
