Education & Mentoring

Our options are not limited to the internships listed below. Organizations listed reflect sites where WCSC has recently placed students or those that are currently looking for interns.  Please feel free to do your own research and do not hesitate to contact WCSC for further opportunities.

• For education policy see listings under “Policy, Politics, Advocacy & Law”

Classroom Settings

• Wheatley Education Campus – DC public school with state-of-the-art facility and on-site social workers and psychologists.
  
  • Great for any education or special education major.
• Saint Anthony’s Catholic School – private elementary school serving low-income students in the Brookland neighborhood, within walking distance from the WCSC house.
• Christian Family Montessori School – a private elementary school using the Montessori method of hands on, experience-based learning.
  
  • Past interns have gained experience in the Montessori method as an assistant in the classroom or sensory integration room (designed by an occupational therapist).
• Next Step Public Charter School – alternative public school helping students ages 16-24 that are not well-served in traditional high schools to gain skills and credentials. Offers an ABE (adult basic education) program, a GED program, and ESL support.
  
  • Great for students interested in alternative education programs.

Adult Education

• Academy of Hope – public charter school for adults, offering adult basic education (ABE), GED, and National External Diploma Program (NEDP) programs in addition to computer training and support for careers and goals.
  
  • Past interns have assisted in classrooms of adult learners in a variety of subject areas.
• Carlos Rosario International Charter School – adult education school for immigrant families. Provides ESL support as well as literacy, technology skills, civics, and career development.
• Briya Public Charter School – two-generation education model working to support parents and their children through English, digital literacy, and parenting courses for adults and early education for children.
  • Opportunity to work with adults and/or early childhood education.
  • Opportunities to support classes in a variety of subjects including: ESL, digital literacy and skills-based education, and parenting.
  • *Spanish Language Opportunity

Special Education

• Chelsea School – private special education school for teenagers with learning disabilities.
  
  • Past interns have worked directly with students in the classroom as teaching assistants. This is a great opportunity for spring, fall, or summer, but Education majors with a full schedule may wish to come in the summer to help with their remedial literacy summer program.
• Episcopal Center for Children (ECC) – day treatment facility for emotionally challenged children and their families. ECC works with children experiencing: Emotional Disturbance (ED), Multiple Disabilities (MD), Speech or Language Impairment (SLI), Other Health Impairment (OHI) and Specific Learning Disability (SLD).
  
  • Past interns have worked directly with students, supporting their individualized behavioral and educational needs.
• The Lab School of Washington – an elementary school for students with language-based learning differences.
  
  • Past interns have worked with on-site speech pathologists.
• Also see Wheatley Education Campus, above, which has opportunities for interns to work with on-site psychologists.

Tutoring and Alternative Academic Programs

• Higher Achievement – after school program for low-income middle-school students to receive homework coaching and small-group academic mentoring in math, literature, science, and social studies.
• Reading Partners – targeted, individualized literacy intervention for students in kindergarten through fourth grade who are behind grade-level in reading.
• 826DC – writing program for elementary and high school age students that builds writing skills and inspires creativity through one-on-one mentorship.

After School, Experiential, and Other Educational Programs

• SITAR Arts Center – provides multidisciplinary arts education to children from lower-income families through classes in visual arts, music, drama, dance, digital arts, and creative writing.
• Dance Place– dance school that also offers after-school educational support for youth, including physical play and dance classes, homework support and field trips.
• Little Friends for Peace – works directly with low-income children in the “Peace Room”, an oasis from the often violent surroundings that youth in the surrounding community experience.
  
  • Interns work directly with children, including peace education and group activities.
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington – provides a safe, comfortable, and fun space designed to support youth who would otherwise be home alone or on the street when school is not in session.
• LAYC- Teen Center (Latin American Youth Center) – provides classes for youth ages 12-21 living in high-risk communities in a variety of creative disciplines, helping them to pursue their educational and future vocational goals.
  
  • *Spanish Language Opportunity
• Anacostia Watershed Society – offers outdoor and environmental educational programs for youth and adults.
  
  • Past interns have helped to lead canoe trips and support education around the Anacostia River, one of DC’s main waterways.
• Anacostia Community Museum Academy Program – a cultural arts enrichment program through the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum for youth ages 7-11 living in the surrounding communities of southeast DC.
• Words Beats & Life Inc. – Hip-hop nonprofit including creative programs for youth and adults.
• The Writer’s Center  – offers writing workshops for people of diverse backgrounds and ages living in the DC area.
• Free Minds – uses books and creative writing to empower young inmates to transform their lives.

TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)

• The Family Place – offers education and support services for low-income families, including expecting mothers and preschool-aged children.
  
  • Past interns have supported in classes of female adults who almost exclusively speak Spanish as a first language.
  • *Spanish Language Opportunity. Good match for Spanish speakers, allowing you to help with home visits and assessments.
• CASA de Maryland – works to organize, advocate for, and expand opportunities for Latino and immigrant people in the state of Maryland.
  
  • Teaching English is one of many services offered at this site.
  • *Spanish Language Opportunity
• DC Jobs with Justice – coalition dedicated to protecting and advocating for the rights of working people in the DC area.
  • One of the organization’s programs reaches out to day laborers by organizing volunteers to teach them English as they wait to be picked up for jobs in the Home Depot parking lot! The classes are dynamic and interactive, since students come and go, literally, by the minute. This environment will help a teacher to flesh out an array of activities that do not rely on homework, writing, or textbooks.
• Also see Briya Public Charter School, above.
  
  • Past TESOL students have worked alongside seasoned professional English teachers.
  • *Spanish Language Opportunity
• Also see Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, above.
  
  • Past interns have had an opportunity to work as classroom assistants.

Sports & Recreation Education

• YMCA – dedicated to strengthening communities through youth development, social responsibility, and healthy living.
  Offers interns hands-on opportunities, including coaching, leading classes, and helping out with youth programs.
• DC Scores – combines soccer with writing, poetry, service learning and other education programs for elementary school students.
• Department of Parks and Recreation – maintains park facilities and offers programming and summer camps for students in Washington, DC.
  
  • Opportunities to support athletics at summer camps and various other park district programming.
• Homerun Baseball Camp – baseball camp for children from all over the DC area.
• Also see Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, above for youth recreation programming.
• Also see FLOC: For Love of Children, above for outdoor recreation opportunities.