TWO LANGUAGES, ONE VISION
DOS IDIOMAS,
UNA VISIÓN

Robin Roesch is a wife, mother, registered nurse, and longtime Capitol Hill resident dedicated to advancing educational equity in Washington, D.C. Since moving to the neighborhood in 2018, Robin and her family have been proud members of the Shirley Chisholm Elementary community—drawn in by the school’s inclusive spirit and its commitment to Spanish immersion.

Robin's two daughters both attend Shirley Chisholm, and it was through their experiences that she witnessed the profound impact bilingual education can have on a child’s development. Like many parents, she saw the benefits of language learning go far beyond academics—building confidence, empathy, and cultural fluency. As her younger daughter began reading and expressing herself in Spanish, Robin saw firsthand how language can both challenge and empower.

As a labor and delivery nurse, Robin is no stranger to systemic inequities. She has spent years caring for women and children in D.C.—many of them Black and Brown—whose health outcomes are shaped as much by policy as by medicine. She brings that same lens to education advocacy: a clear understanding that systems often fail those who need them most, and that equity must be intentionally built, not just hoped for.

Robin realized, along with many others, that the promise of bilingual education in D.C. stops far too soon. Despite thriving immersion programs in early grades, there is no DCPS dual-language middle school east of Rock Creek Park. Families in Wards 6, 7, and 8 are forced into difficult choices: leave their neighborhood, abandon bilingual learning, or navigate an overcrowded and inequitable lottery system.

Rather than accept that reality, Robin joined forces with fellow parent Mia Thrash to co-found Creciendo Chisholm. After reviewing survey data from Chisholm families and recognizing the once-in-a-generation opportunity to align the school’s planned modernization with the urgent need for a bilingual middle school, Robin stepped into the role of Co-Chair. She brings to the movement the clarity of a caregiver, the discipline of a nurse, and the grounded experience of a parent determined to do better for her children and her city.

Robin speaks for working families, Ward 6 parents, and those raising children who deserve stability, access, and a public education rooted in community. She brings her voice to the table so others don’t have to fight alone.

For Robin, bilingual education is about more than just language—it’s about justice, dignity, and ensuring that every child in D.C. has access to continuous, high-quality learning that honors who they are, who they want to be, and how they want to experience and shape the world.

Mia Thrash is a single mother, attorney, entrepreneur, arts supporter, and third-generation dual-city resident of New York City and Washington, D.C., now raising a proud first-generation Washingtonian in Ward 6. A second-generation New York City K–12 private school graduate, Mia was raised with a deep appreciation for educational continuity, community, and high expectations.

It was her Spanish-dominant daughter’s Afro-Latina Costa Rican heritage that led her family from part-time private daycare and a nanny share to successfully lotterying into Shirley Chisholm Elementary for PreK3—and ultimately, to Mia co-founding Creciendo Chisholm.

Though not a native Spanish speaker, Mia intentionally built a bilingual foundation for her daughter from birth: a Spanish-speaking home, church, caregivers, and full-time summer schooling in Costa Rica. Her daughter is proudly bilingual—not by chance, but by design.

But as Mia soon learned, D.C.’s commitment to bilingual education ends after elementary school for families in Wards 6, 7, and 8. There is no DCPS dual-language middle school east of Rock Creek Park—and no concrete plan to create one.

After reviewing survey data from Shirley Chisholm families alongside Co-Chair Robin Roesch, and recognizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to align the school’s planned modernization with the urgent need for a bilingual middle school, Mia formally stepped into the role of Co-Chair of Creciendo Chisholm. She saw clearly that this was the moment to act—to embed equity into the very architecture of D.C.’s future.

Although her family will transition to a local private PreK–8 school next year to ensure high-level educational continuity that is not currently guaranteed to Wards 6, 7, and 8, the decision is bittersweet. In doing so, they are giving up the full-time Spanish immersion that has helped her daughter embrace who she is and her culture—a loss that feels like leaving a part of her behind. They are also leaving behind teachers, staff, classmates, and fellow students who have become familia.

Mia acknowledges that this kind of departure—whether to Maryland, Virginia, or other parts of the city—is echoed in DCPS matriculation patterns long before 5th grade. But it shouldn’t have to be the norm. No family should be forced to choose between continuity, the patchwork of language, culture and belonging that shapes our identities and communities.

Mia speaks for families of color, for Spanish-dominant children, for single parents, and as a community stakeholder. She brings her voice to the table so others don’t have to fight alone.

“We don’t want credit. We want continuity. We don’t need a spotlight. We need structure.”

• Kimberly Cragg

• Daniel Grunert

• Ashley Julian

• Joanna Kreiselman

• Rebecca Lindhurst

• Allison Mueller

• Rachel Nadelman

• Dorothy Reyneri