A long-shuttered Ward 5 high school has a new purpose. The District government opened the new DC Infrastructure Academy at the former Spingarn High School campus, with Mayor Muriel Bowser joining officials and school alumni to mark the milestone with a ribbon-cutting.
Bowser was joined by other District officials and Spingarn alumni to cut the ribbon on the newly completed campus, according to The DC Line, which described the site as the historic but long-shuttered Ward 5 school. DC News Now also covered the opening of the academy at the historic campus.
The academy, known as DCIA, is designed as a partnership between the District government and the private sector focused on training residents for infrastructure-sector careers, according to AFRO. The program targets jobs in transportation, energy, utilities and IT infrastructure, the outlet reports, and the new Spingarn facility will serve as DCIA’s central campus, hosting transportation, energy and automotive training programs, per the Mayor’s office.
Who Can Enroll and What the Campus Offers
The program is open to any city resident over the age of 18, according to a 2023 report from WTOP, which covered the project as it prepared participants for in-demand trade jobs. The renovated campus includes a 2,700-square-foot specialty mechanical lab, additional interior classroom space, and a refurbished courtyard and social spaces, the station’s report said.
Cost and address details for the project are murky across official and news accounts. A District government project page lists the facility’s address as 2500 Benning Road NE and its current budget at $73 million, while AFRO’s report on the opening placed the newly minted DCIA building at 2330 Pomeroy Road SE. WTOP’s earlier reporting put the renovation’s price tag at $64 million, and it’s unclear whether the figures reflect different project phases or scopes.
A Track Record Stretching Back to 2018
DCIA’s roots predate the new Spingarn campus. Since 2018, the academy has connected D.C. government entities, universities and private-sector partners to build a pipeline into construction, energy and telecommunications jobs, according to the Washington Informer. The paper reports that the program has trained more than 4,600 D.C. residents to date.
That track record includes a notably strong placement rate: WTOP’s report cited a 100% job-offer rate across 13 cohorts of trainees. AFRO adds that the program’s training is meant to make graduates eligible for roughly two million infrastructure jobs nationally and 2,500 to 3,000 openings locally, with an average hourly wage for available positions reported at $48.75.
Filling a Growing Industry Need
District officials frame the academy as a response to one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country. Mayor Bowser launched DCIA with the Department of Employment Services to meet skilled infrastructure needs in Washington, with the program recruiting, screening and training District residents, according to the agency’s own program description.
AFRO’s report, published March 16, 2018, traces the academy’s unveiling to a ribbon-cutting event held March 12, 2018. The Spingarn campus now stands as the latest and most visible chapter in that effort, transforming a school building that sat empty for years into what officials describe as a hub for blue-collar career training across the District.
