Calvin Coolidge High School
Washington, DC


Where students graduate as advocates of sustainable practices, transforming themselves and the world.
Coolidge is committed to providing excellence in education to all students through program design, rich learning experiences, and a robust and proud alumni network of after-school and college scholarship sponsors.
Calvin Coolidge High School opened its doors in 1940 as a white-only school after community advocacy to address the growing population of Takoma in Washington, DC. Coolidge was the first school named after the 30th president of the United States. After the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the school was desegregated in the 1950s. Fast forward to the present, Coolidge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic landmark in DC, with more than 90% of student demographics being Black or Hispanic/Latino students.
Coolidge is part of DC+XQ, a multi-year partnership to reimagine the high school experience in the nation’s capital. This community-led initiative has brought together students, educators, families, and school community members with bold ideas for what is possible for DC’s high school students. Each school’s redesign is unique because every community is different.
Learn More about the DC+XQ partnership.
Coolidge has a strong mission and culture with a vision for a future incorporating the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve peace and prosperity for all people and the planet. Coolidge learners will become leaders who infuse wellness and sustainability practices throughout their lives, regardless of their path after graduation. The Coolidge learning experience includes solving real problems by applying deep content knowledge and complex skills.
Since Coolidge joined the second cohort of DC+XQ schools in the summer of 2023, redesign team members, including students, educators, families, staff, and school community members, have worked to roll out a new design model incorporating local and global sustainability issues into the high school experience. They’ve incorporated sustainability issues into capstone projects, independent student research, and other pre-professional experiences.
These include capstone projects, independent research, and other pre-professional experiences. In the newly offered AP Seminar course, students choose an SDG to focus on and conduct rigorous action research, which they then present to experts and relevant organizations. Coolidge students have engaged in virtual exchange programs with students from Guatemala, Algeria, Tunisia, and Iraq, traveled to the United Nations headquarters in New York, and traveled abroad to countries including Costa Rica and Taiwan.


XQ Resources in Action
All high schools taking part in DC+XQ used XQ’s Design Journey to bring the community together around a vision for redesign. They also used XQ’s Educational Opportunity Audit to analyze qualitative and quantitative data, including student transcripts. The EOA helps schools identify student opportunity gaps to facilitate change, ensuring all students are given equitable opportunities to succeed.

Learn More
See DC + XQ- Four Additional D.C. Public Schools Gear Up for Redesign – The Washington Informer
- Is the Post-Pandemic Era Ripe for Rethinking High School? | EdSurge News
- Why Focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals in School Is Good for Students, Staff, Families, and the Broader Community | Getting Smart
- Juniors from Coolidge High School Discuss Animal Protection in Moot Court | GW Today | The George Washington University
- D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Celebrates Work-Based Learning Initiative at GW