DC Charter School Alliance Commends Dr. Bernida Thompson for 50 Years of Service to the DC Charter Community

Washington, D.C. – The DC Charter School Alliance today applauds and commends Dr. Bernida Thompson, Founder and Principal of Roots Activity Learning Center (1977) and Roots Public Charter School (1999), following her retirement after 50 years of service in the DC charter school community. 

Under Dr. Thompson’s leadership, the Roots schools have become a national model of excellence in building close and highly productive communities grounded in African-centered education. Dr. Thompson, who goes by Mama Bernida, has created and sustained a vibrant school community that spans three generations. Roots Public Charter School continues to serve young people, some of whose parents have matriculated through the program. Several alumni are now serving as instructors.  

“We sincerely thank Dr. Thompson for an exemplary half-century of service to children and the broader charter school community,” said Ariel Johnson, Executive Director of the D.C. Charter School Alliance. “She is a true changemaker in the lives of countless students and educators across the District, and her presence will be missed.” 

Before launching her Roots Activity Learning Center, Dr. Thompson taught in Ohio, and later at Brookland Elementary School in Northeast and Seton Elementary School in Northwest Washington, D.C. Teaching had been her lifelong dream, and she developed her African-centered pedagogy while participating in study circles on the campus of Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio during the 1960s. Thompson is firm in her conviction that Black children in the District benefit from an educational model that promotes the greatness of their African culture and heritage, immerses them in a family-oriented environment, and equips them with academically empowering material.