Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region is a Washington D.C. based non-profit educational organization serving the National Capital Region since 2001. Living Classrooms has a distinctive competency in experiential learning — literally learning by direct experience, or what we call “learning by doing.”  The organization was founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 1985 with a philosophy based on the concept that students -- especially those in need of extra guidance -- placed in small classes in challenging settings respond to real-world applications of academics and the “work world” far more readily than they do in traditional classrooms.

Kingman + Heritage Islands are property of the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE). The islands are managed by Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region, a 501 c3 non-profit providing educational, workforce development, and environmental programming for citizens of the District of Columbia and greater metropolitan region.

Investing in DC Youth

In 2001, Living Classrooms expanded into Washington, DC to meet the needs of some of the National Capital’s most disadvantaged residents. Currently, we serve 25,000 individuals each year through a multi-generational approach that includes targeted educational programming, customized job-training and placement, effective health and fitness opportunities, and a wide range of supportive services. We place a special emphasis on serving youth and families in poverty, adjudicated youth, and adult ex-offenders.

Living Classrooms is investing our three decades of experience and success in serving youth and families towards disrupting the cycle of generational poverty that persists in many neighborhoods in Washington, DC., namely Wards 6, 7, and 8, and surrounding Prince George's County.  We are serving some of the area's most disadvantaged communities, which have suffered from decades of low educational achievement, high poverty, unemployment, crime, and recidivism rates, gang activity, and chronic health problems. Using proven hands-on training methods in our established after-school and supplemental education programs, health and wellness programs, violence prevention and reduction initiatives, clean and green projects, and job training focused on teen and adult ex-offenders, we provide results-oriented programming that helps youth and families remove barriers to success and build a bridge to a successful future.