Former D.C. Catholic Schools Start New Life as Charters

Conversion Attracts Attention as Possible Model Elsewhere

When Principal Monica D. Evans led a morning gathering on the first day of school recently, she left out what was once a central ingredient: an opening prayer.

So began the former Holy Name School’s new incarnation as the Trinidad Campus of Center City Public Charter Schools . The reinvented elementary school here in the nation’s capital has given up its Roman Catholic identity this academic year to become a charter school.

“It was a little sad to say goodbye to what we knew as Catholic education,” said Ms. Evans, adding that the switch was far preferable to seeing her school close. “But we didn’t dwell on it. It was what it was, and we were...