One of the great joys of my life has been the pride I feel as an alumnus of Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, DC. I am a legacy Colt – my mom graduated from Coolidge in 1967 and my uncle graduated in 1983. I graduated in 1997. If I ever have or adopt kids, of course I’d like for them to attend as well.
Coolidge means a lot to me. Certainly it’s not a consistent athletic powerhouse like other schools in DC have been known, nor is it a Banneker or School Without Walls, with their reputations for academic excellence.
It’s just a regular neighborhood high school in a quiet, northern section of DC that needed a school. It used to be all white, then it became mostly black, now it is a mix of African American, Latino, first generation African and Caribbean immigrants, and other growing populations.
We’ve never been perfect. But Coolidge has always been ours and we love it just the way it is. Our loyalty will e’er be strong.