Alex Roosenburg, left, back in the day. Adorable photo courtesy of Alex Roosenburg
Alexandra Roosenburg will be opening a school in Capitol Hill starting in the summer of 2018: Capitol Learning Academy. Look for more information about her new school this weekend.
We recently chatted with her and asked her our five questions. Her answers have been lightly edited for clarity. Welcome to Capitol Hill, Alex!
1. What was the process that led you to realizing you wanted to start a school?
In a nutshell, the original idea came when I was living overseas in Tanzania and was to provide more than one option to families who were posted overseas in “hardship postings,” so that there would be an educational advantage to bringing their children to the posting with them, and provide a cutting edge education unlike any other. I started to think about what a cutting edge education would look like, would be like, and how it would benefit the students. As the idea simmered, I moved back to the USA, and was reminded of the issues we have within our own country, and that our own educational models could use some revamping. Once I had a few more years of teaching and then some years as a school administrator under my belt, it felt like the right time to take the plunge and dedicate myself to finding the right model that would best prepare students for what lies ahead, rather than continuing with what we’ve always done.
2. What is your first memory of your own education?
My first memory of education, as it tends to be for many, is of a time when something negative happened in school. I was in Kindergarten and another student broke one of the class rules by playing with something. When the teacher saw the toy in the wrong place, the student blamed me for it. I was not very outspoken and would never have dared to correct a teacher, so I ended up being moved from “green light” to “yellow light” for the rest of that day. The injustice!
3. What is a habit you have that people may find surprising?
Tough question! In terms of education/literacy (to stay on theme here!) I guess it would be that I rarely proofread emails/pieces of writing after I’ve drafted them out. I catch errors as I write, and otherwise I’ll notice something after the fact and just be really annoyed at myself for missing it! It’s a bad habit, not one I’d recommend to my students, or to other adults for that matter! Upon reflection with my siblings, they thought I should go with something more fun for my surprising habit: I like to look for a joke, specifically a pun, in almost every conversation. I will reliably make at least one joke whereby you will groan and (hopefully) chuckle from surprise. I’m endearingly known as “punny” amongst my sisters and close friends.
4. If you could change something about the educational model across the board, what would it be?
I would get rid of age-based grade levels, and outcomes according to those grade levels. Research shows that students each develop at their own rates both across subjects and social-emotionally, we need to embrace that and let students feel excited when they fly ahead in an area, and comfortable if they need to slow down in another area and take some extra time to securely learn a concept or skill. There’s no shame in being an outlier to your peers, because everyone should be comfortably on their own educational journey.
5. Finally, if you could change three things about Capitol Hill, which ones would they be and why?
- I would add more community/recreation centers for adult and student athletics/play outside of school hours. There are a handful, but not nearly as many as in the Northern Quadrants. DC has so many great, free resources for its residents, and they tend to be beautifully designed and maintained, we should have them more equally spread all over the city.
- Update Southeast Neighborhood Library. I love how small and friendly it is, but when you visit the renovated or newer libraries like Shaw or Anacostia, and see all of the study areas, meeting rooms, you realize how much more could be done with the space, and what an even greater community resource it could become. For many students and their families, public libraries are their access points to computers, learning events, and especially to books, so the more inviting we can make these spaces, the better!
- I can’t think of a third! I just recently bought a new home in Capitol Hill so am still in my “honeymoon phase” and am so excited to discover all of the wonderful ins and outs of my new neighborhood!