TCAAD: The very first Architecture based Charter school in the world

TCAAD is a public charter school that prioritizes math, literacy and design thinking in high need communities through innovative lenses of architecture and design thinking.

In 2005, Tariq Abdullah, one of the Founders of TCAAD, created an architecture workshop series, for students In grades K-12, aimed at exposing them to architecture and design. The workshop won an award from the American Architecture Foundation and named The World Peace House “A Program Of National Distinction”. Tariq then developed an after-school and a high school architecture curriculum. After experiencing successes in Michigan and Georgia including workshops with DeKalb County Libraries, Tariq and his Wife Tiffany received requests from parents to develop the program further by integrating more school subjects such as Math, Science, And Reading due to the student's level of interest and excitement.

After five years of holding workshops, internships, and design fellowships at Tarchitects LLC, their architecture firm, the culmination of all of these instruments designed to expose students to architecture as a viable career, grew into the desire and platform for a charter school.