DC Public Charter Schools Celebrate Summer Graduates at Annual "Rainbow Graduation"

Graduates from different public charter schools gather for a moment before the Rainbow Graduation ceremony begins.

On Friday, hundreds of city officials, families, and school leaders gathered to celebrate nearly 40 graduates from nine public charter schools who persevered to earn their high school diploma. 

Affectionately named “Rainbow Graduation” for the differently colored robes worn by graduates, this annual ceremony is hosted by the DC Charter School Alliance and the DC Public Charter School Board and celebrates charter school students who complete their graduation requirements over the summer. The combined ceremony gives every graduate the opportunity to participate in a formal commencement and walk across the stage.

This year's graduating class includes students from Capital City Public Charter School, E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, Friendship Collegiate Academy, IDEA Public Charter School, KIPP DC College Preparatory, KIPP DC Legacy College Preparatory, SEED Public Charter School, Thurgood Marshall Academy, and Washington Leadership Public Charter School.

"Today is about celebrating fortitude, resilience, and the power of community," said Ariel Johnson, Executive Director of the DC Charter School Alliance. "Thirty years ago, DC's public charter sector was established to expand opportunity for students regardless of background, zip code, or circumstance — students exactly like the graduates who walked across this stage today. They represent the very best DC's young people have to offer: hope, tenacity, and a future built on their own persistence."

Dr. Antoinette S. Mitchell, State Superintendent of Education and a native Washingtonian, gave welcoming remarks. She spoke to the personal weight the ceremony carried for her given that her grandparents didn’t have the opportunity to finish high school – while encouraging her to pursue education because it meant, “freedom, knowledge, and the opportunity for life-changing futures.”

“They never crossed a stage like this,” Mitchell said. “Their belief became part of my family’s story. I stand on their shoulders today, as you stand on those who helped you get here.”

Following opening remarks from Ariel Johnson and Dr. Antoinette Mitchell, State Superintendent of Education, student speaker Jameer Biagas of Thurgood Marshall Academy urged his fellow graduates to keep going, even when they stumble. Biagas described a senior year that knocked him off course, and the redemption he found once he asked for help. "Falling behind doesn't mean you've fallen forever," he told his classmates. "Sometimes, getting lost is what teaches you how to find yourself again."

Commencement speaker Andy Carter, an IDEA Public Charter School alumnus who went on to become a Senior Network Engineer at the U.S. Census Bureau and founder of his own IT company, Smooth Networks, encouraged graduates to stop measuring their path against anyone else's timeline and to lift others up as they rise. Carter told graduates that when he was in their seats, he had no blueprint for the career that would follow — just the willingness to take the next step, and then another. "Successful people aren't people who never fall," he said. "They're people who refuse to make the ground their permanent address." He closed with a challenge to the class: "Your diploma isn't the end of your story. It's proof that you're capable of writing the next chapter."

Congratulations to the Class of 2026!