Jennifer Darlington

AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School

AppleTree is an innovative nonprofit that develops and provides proven early childhood education programs to the most underserved three- and four-year-olds to close the achievement gap before students enter kindergarten. AppleTree is an entrepreneurial enterprise consisting of AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation and AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School, with seven public charter preschool campuses serving as models for effective teaching and learning. AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School provides an engaging and rigorous preschool for three- and four-year-olds in Washington, DC that gets children ready for kindergarten and future school success. AppleTree uses purposeful learning through play and guided instruction to create a safe, structured preschool experience. We employ highly qualified teachers who are professionally prepared and supported in their work to help children succeed. AppleTree's thematic curriculum builds children's vocabulary, critical thinking, and early literacy skills - and supports social emotional development. After two years at AppleTree, children significantly outperform their peers who did not attend AppleTree on measures of early language and literacy, and they are stronger oral readers in 2nd grade.