Summer Reading Buddies at the Park in partnership with ACPS

Despite the high heat and unpredictable rain, Casa Chirilagua had a productive summer. On Tuesday and Thursday nights Mount Vernon Community School and Casa Chirilagua hosted a pilot program: “Reading Buddies at the Park.” The high community turnout on the first day...

An Interchange of Inner Change

What happens when you take a group of white kids from small-town Illinois and mix them up with a group of first generation Central American immigrant urban kids from the DC Metro area (Chirilagua)? Quite honestly, we didn’t know the answer to this question but with...

August Volunteer of the Month: Amy Kraft

Ringing through the room at the start of each morning before our summer reading program was a clear, encouraging, energetic voice – a teacher’s voice. Amy Kraft, a second-grade teacher in Fairfax, Virginia, doled out classroom savvy (a game of letter-sound hopscotch...

WyldLife camp, from a student’s point of view

There is no doubt this year’s WyldLife camp was a memorable one. While we could tell you all the stories from the staff’s point of view, we’d rather hear from one of our students. “Wyldlife camp was a fun week full of adventures including:...

Celebrating Parent Participation & Academic Progress

In June Casa Chirilagua celebrated the close of another school year with the annual Year End Celebration! At the end of our time together one volunteer commented, “The parents have always attended this event but this year I could FEEL their presence.” One parent...