Welcome to the Maya Academies
A National Model of Juvenile Justice
💻 Maya Angelou Academy @ New Beginnings
📍 8400 River Rd, Laurel, MD 20724
📞 (202) 299-3227
Residents at New Beginnings are referred to as scholars, setting a tone of respect and high expectations when they first enter the facility. Throughout their time at New Beginnings, these scholars participate in therapeutic, level-based programming, designed to help them prepare to return to the community READ MORE
💻 Maya Angelou Academy @ DC Jail
📍 1901 D Street SE, Washington, DC 20003
📞 (202) 698-5978
Without intervention, only one in 10 adjudicated delinquent students will go on to get a high school diploma. The Maya Angelou Academy at DC Jail, located between the DC Armory and the Anacostia River, works everyday to change this statistic, and encourages students to not only graduate, but to go on and explore postsecondary education options and careers READ MORE
💻 Maya Angelou Academy @ Youth Services Center
📍 1000 Mount Olivet Rd. NE, Washington, DC 20002
📞 (202) 576-8388
The Academy within the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services' Youth Service Center provides a safe, nurturing, and mutually respectful environment that motivates and prepares incarcerated young people to fulfill their academic or career potential READ MORE
✉ For all press and media inquiries, please contact Jewel Brooks at jbrooks@seeforever.org
- Chelsea Clinton Profiles DYRS' School - Maya Angelou Academy (Related: Chelsea Clinton to Feature DYRS School on NBC's Rock Center With Brian Williams)
- Making a Difference: Turning jailed teens into model students
- Prioritizing Education for Justice-Involved Youth
- Locked Up, Not Thrown Away: An Education Professor Fights for Good Schools in Youth Detention Centers
- Students From New Beginnings Graduate
- Students at the D.C. Jail celebrate graduation
- School Offers Model Lessons for D.C.'s Jailed Youths
We believe that the powerful values, teaching standards and quality secondary school curriculum of the Maya Angelou PCS and the Young Adult Learning Center should be rightfully transferred to juvenile detainees in correctional settings. Maya Schools in secure settings are known as Maya Academies.
Our positive and purpose-filled approach to correctional education successfully mirrors an academically challenging school day – including creative outlets, clubs and team/relationship building activities. We keep students as positively engaged and productive as possible. Consistency in scholarship is critical in closing the achievement gap for all students who are temporary wards of the state. In doing so we transform the lives of our scholars as we support their mind, body and spirit during a temporary turbulent point in their lives.
The Maya Academies believe that in order to teach effectively, we must:
✩ Work together to uplift student voices and talents
✩ Build trust with our students by keeping our word, and telling the truth – even when it’s hard!
✩ Dwell in the solutions, not the challenges
✩ Search for proven strategies wherever they exist, and share our findings as an industry leader of correctional education
✩ Partner collaboratively with each other, families, and communities
Helpful links for families of incarcerated youth attending one of the Maya Academies:
- What is juvenile detention?
- What are three types of juveniles?
- Who is considered an incarcerated youth?
- What is correctional education?
- How can I emotionally support my student? How can I improve my involvement during this process?
- What is the impact of youth incarceration on families, do you have suggestions?
- Where can I find legal resources about young offenders in DC or Maryland?
