The school is Washington, DC’s only all-male public high school and one of only a few in the country. It’s a space specifically designed to foster academic and social-emotional success for young men of color, known at the school as Young Kings. Support from local and national community members, politicians, organizations, and foundations helped launch this unique and tailored program. To honor Black brilliance, the school is named after Ronald Harmon Brown, the first Black U.S. Commerce Secretary who served during the Clinton Administration. 

Ron Brown 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.

Through the DC+XQ redesign process, Ron Brown envisions becoming a “Black Biosphere,” an oasis where anything is possible for Black and Brown boys. This Biosphere is a space where Young Kings are educated and empowered, able to achieve their goals and ambitions. The school leverages caring, trusting relationships and restorative practices to achieve the vision of becoming a Black Biosphere.

The restorative approach is a priority at Ron Brown, taking on multiple forms of conflict resolution. The school facilitates peer-to-peer discussions to address and resolve feelings and issues and empower students to take accountability in situations. Each day begins with school-wide Community Circles to provide students and staff with a space to give shoutouts, discuss pressing topics in the community, and share what’s on their minds. The space is intentionally uplifting and transparent to normalize discussion of complicated issues amongst students and staff.

Throughout this journey, one hundred percent of Ron Brown’s students gave input on the redesign process through focus groups, polls, and participation in DC+XQ Design Days, making it very clear what’s important to them: becoming public figures. Centered around restorative practices and personal growth, students take their ideas of what they choose to do and how they engage with people and grow as anchors for a meaningful impact on their community. Public figures are at the core of the school’s redesigned school model, and the Young Kings learn to lead by example.

The Work & Impact

Since joining the second cohort of DC+XQ schools in the summer of 2023, Ron Brown has emphasized experiential learning and teaching strategies that expose students to the real world. Through community, career, and college preparation, Young Kings understand what it means to be a public figure. Career preparatory offerings include four pathways: 

• Horticultural Science
• Audio/Visual
• JROTC 
• Computer Science.

PFLEX, a new “Public Figure Learning Experience,” brings Young Kings to Atlanta to study the life of an influential public figure and develop and present their figure’s identity. Other recent offerings have included a rap writing workshop, a field trip to New York City to practice photographic storytelling, and a student-organized career fair. Guest speakers, shadow days with industry professionals, and college visits are also offered regularly.