History & Background

Horizons Greater Washington is a tuition-free academic and enrichment program serving K-8 students in families from underserved communities in Washington, DC, and Montgomery County, MD. We offer an intensive summer program and school year programming that builds critical skills in reading, math, swimming, and social and emotional development to prepare our students for successful school years and transitions. Our project-based STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) curriculum focuses on the whole child while allowing veteran and new professional teachers to hone their craft with us each summer. Throughout the nine years their child is in our program, we partner with our families and remove the physical barriers to learning by absorbing the total cost of each student and providing transportation, supplies, and meals.

Origins

Horizons Greater Washington (HGW) is an affiliate of Horizons National, which began in 1964 as a summer program for students from families with low incomes in Fairfield County, Connecticut. In the early 1980s, Edward Zigler, a Yale psychology professor and one of the founders of HeadStart, launched the first of several program evaluations that found that participation in Horizons improved school attendance, academic outcomes, and student attitudes. Based on these results, Horizons National was formed to replicate the model in other locations.

The first Horizons site in the DC area was launched in 2000 as a partnership between Maret School and H.D. Cooke Elementary School. The program began with a class of 16 first graders and added a grade each year. In January 2008, Horizons at Maret welcomed a second partner school, Bancroft Elementary School.

In May 2009, Horizons expanded to a second host school, St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School. Horizons Greater Washington was incorporated that fall to manage both sites, and in February 2010, it expanded into Montgomery County, when Norwood School in Bethesda became the third host school in partnership with Rock Creek Forest Elementary School.