ABOUT CAFE
Over 28 YEARS OF SUCCESS IN ACADEMIA AND ARTS !!
International reach for our local students
Our arts program features two award-winning youth steel orchestras (multiple time champions at the Virginia Beach International Pan Festival). The bands have played before audiences throughout the United States, and in Trinidad & Tobago, Canada, and Senegal. Such audiences included CAFE family and supporters, community members, diplomats, presidents, First Ladies, activists, and various professionals. We have hosted youth bands from Trinidad & Tobago and Belize. Our repertoire covers all genres, with a focus on contributions from the African, Caribbean, and Latin American diaspora. We expose students to diverse cultural practices, including languages, dance forms, cuisines, fashions and arts. CAFE encourages inclusion, understanding and tolerance for all cultures, (especially those considered marginalized and less visible to mainstream viewers). We currently serve students and families from over 200 youths and 300 adults.
Our Students. Our Legacy.
Our Students. Our Legacy.
This family has seen so much success at CAFE. While one has graduated from high school, the younger remains at CAFE and continues to blossom !
From low income to high success!
For over 25 years CAFE has provided arts-based academic instruction to over 2,000 youths in low-income, underserved communities through our after-school and Saturday academy programs. These programs teach performing and visual art forms (music [theory & steelpan], dance, painting, sculpture, videography and photography) helping students achieve success in traditional academic subjects, (e.g.,math, reading, and science).
We are about history in the making!
Our students excel at state
and regional competitions
Our arts integrated project-based curricula builds competence and instills self-confidence in children as they (1) acquire requisite scholastic skills, and (2) complete complex assignments, often in competitive environments. Competitions include Robotics tournaments, Steelpan competitions, chess matches, and mock legal trials. Students partner with college mentors to produce fictional and non-fictional narratives, and present physics-based steelpan exhibitions at Princeton University’s Young Women’s Conference annually.
