News Archive

Maret Athletic Field Project Moves Forward On April 6, 2022, the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) unanimously approved the Maret School’s application to build athletic fields at Episcopal Center for Children (ECC). In announcing their decision, the BZA Commissioners offered strong support of the project and its benefits to the community. They also thanked the Maret School for its willingness to mitigate neighborhood impacts and adjust plans. The BZA Commissioners applauded the work of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3/4G, which spent months holding meetings, listening to community feedback, and passed a 28-page resolution for the project. This project will help ECC reopen and return ECC to serving children coping with emotional disabilities. We thank everyone who called to voice…

Dear ECC Neighbors & Friends, Some of you may have heard that we closed our therapeutic school in June 2019. The closure was one of the most difficult and heart breaking periods in ECC’s history, and was due in part to financial challenges. Immediately after our closure, we received a number of calls from real estate developers and others inquiring about our willingness to sell our property. We took time to deliberate over how we wanted to proceed and thoughtfully considered what the next chapter for ECC could be. We were approached by Maret School about leasing underutilized land for an athletic field. Earlier this year, we announced that our Board of Directors had signed a lease with them. They…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WASHINGTON (June 21, 2021) – The Episcopal Center for Children (ECC) and Maret School, two private, nonprofit organizations, have executed a long-term lease for up to 50 years that will allow Maret to use the grounds behind the ECC’s buildings, as well as the smallest of its four buildings. This agreement does not preclude ECC from working with additional partners who might seek to use its remaining available space. The ECC ceased operations of its therapeutic school in 2019, remains committed to its mission of serving children and families with special needs, and plans to start an afterschool enrichment program next year. As part of the agreement, Maret will develop the space to create multisport fields for…

What’s next for The Episcopal Center for Children (ECC)? It’s a question that our Board of Directors and staff have worked to answer since the temporary closure of our therapeutic school in June 2019. Over the past 125 years, it has been necessary several times for ECC to update its mission and to re-focus its efforts to best serve children and families. In the late 1950s the ECC closed for two years as it advanced from an orphanage to a residential treatment and education program. Similarly, the ECC is currently considering how best to move forward to resume as a nonprofit school to address the educational and emotional needs of children, especially children with emotional challenges. Given the challenges of…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WASHINGTON (February 26, 2021) – The Episcopal Center for Children (ECC) has been looking for partners who might share its grounds, and Maret School has been actively searching throughout the city for long-term athletic space. On February 3, 2021 the ECC and Maret School signed a long-term lease for up to 50 years that will allow Maret to use the grounds behind the ECC’s buildings, as well as the smallest of its four buildings. As part of the agreement, Maret will develop the space to create a multisport field for athletic play. It is Maret’s intention to make the field space available to District children, athletes, and residents at large. The ECC and Maret have initiated contact…