Community Organizations
This page lists Poland-related community groups in the Washington metropolitan area.
- American Council for Polish Culture
- American Polish Forum
- Friends of the Pope John Paul II Foundation
- Friends of the Polish Library in Washington, D.C., Inc.
- Georgetown University Polish Club
- George Washington University Polish Group
- The Jan Karski Institute for Tolerance and Dialogue
- Kosciuszko Foundation
- Our Lady Queen of Poland and St. Maksymilian Kolbe Roman Catholic Parish
- Paderewski Scholarship Fund
- Polish American Arts Association of Washington, D.C., Inc.
- Polish American Congress -- Washington Metropolitan Area Division
- Polish American Congress -- Washington Office
- Polish American Health Association
- Polish American Political Action Committee of Maryland
- Polish-American Society of Washington, D.C.
- Polish Club of College Park
- Polish Global Village Happy Hour
- Polish Legion of American Veterans -- Staff Sergeant J. Jagiello Post 191
- Polish Library
- Polish National Alliance Council 203
- Polish Saturday School -- Embassy
- Polish Saturday School -- Catholic
- Polish Students Association
- Polonia Center
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Kosciuszko Foundation, Washington Office (formerly the National Polish Center, originally the American Center of Polish Culture) |
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Paderewski Scholarship Fund |
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Poles and Friends of Poland in the Washington-Baltimore Area |
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Polish American Arts Association of Washington, D.C., Inc. (PAAA) |
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President: PAAA is an affiliate of the American Council of Polish Culture and belongs to the Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division. |
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President: Polish American Health Association belongs to the Federation of Polish Medical Organizations Abroad, Inc., is an affiliate member of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, Inc. (PIASA), a supporting member of Polish Society of Hemophilia Patients and an organization member of the Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division. |
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President: Polish-American Society of Washington, D.C. is Polish National Alliance (PNA) Lodge 848. It belongs to PNA Council 203 and the Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division. |
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Polish Club of College Park is Polish National Alliance (PNA) Lodge 3191. It belongs to PNA Council 203 and the Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division. In the year 2002, the Polish Club of College Park absorbed the Polish Club of Rockville. |
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Chief Organizers: Polish Global Village Happy Hours are casual monthly get-togethers of Poles and friends, happening in the Washington metropolitan area. You are invited! |
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This is the Washington office of the Polish American Congress. PAC's headquarters are in Chicago. For information about PAC's local chapter, see below. |
| Friends of John Paul II Foundation, Inc. -- Washington, D.C., Chapter | Address:
9700 Rosensteel Avenue |
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Mary Flanagan Strictly speaking, not a Polonian organization, but it was founded by a Polish American and is run predominantly by Polish Americans, not to mention the fact that the foundation itself is named after a Pole. |
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Roman Catholic Parish of Our Lady Queen of Poland and St. Maksymilian Kolbe |
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| Georgetown University |
Web: http://studentorgs.georgetown.edu/klubpolski/ |
The Georgetown University Klub Polski was established for the purpose of promoting Polish culture, history, and language at Georgetown University, in both academic and social environments, and in promoting relations between Polish and American students and the University. |
| The George Washington University (GWU) | For more information, please contact Monika Bulatewicz at Kitka007@aol.com. | Undergraduate student Monika Bulatewicz has reestablished a Polish group at
GWU.
Congratulations, Monika! |
| Polish Legion of American Veterans Staff Sergeant J. Jagiello Post 191 |
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Eugene Pawlikowski Polish Legion of American Veterans Staff Sergeant J. Jagiello Post 191 belongs to the Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division. |
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Polish Saturday School -- Embassy The school offers a supplementary curriculum (program uzupelniajacy) which combines with the education gained at regular American schools. The emphasis at the Polish school is on the Polish language, Polish history, Polish geography etc., anything that the pupils would not learn at U.S. elementary, junior high or high schools. Students at the Polish school also take math, social studies etc., like in U.S. schools, but all in Polish. The school also offers courses in Polish for speakers of other languages (for children), the Polish equivalent of ESOL or ESL classes that are offered for immigrants at American schools. Parents can also sign up their kids for the optional after-school Catholic religion classes that are conducted, also in Polish, by a priest from the local Polish parish. Although the school's full formal name is the Educational Consulting Center at the Embasssy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, the kids and parents simply call it "the Polish School." The Polish Ministry of Education oversees and approves the Polish school's curriculum, books, teachers and administrators, just like in any Polish school in Poland. The textbooks and workbooks are the same that are used in schools in Poland. Technically, the Educational Consulting Center at the Embasssy of the Republic of Poland in Washington is part of one large group of schools with locations throughout the world and the head office in Warsaw. Some parents enroll their children at the Polish school just to have the kids learn to speak, read and write Polish fluently and to expose them to Polish culture. However, by virtue of its affiliation and coordination with the Poland-based public school system, the Polish school in Washington allows its students to earn regular Polish school credits and diplomas. The learning program is structured in a way that will help a student adjust to the school curriculum in Poland should the student move or return to Poland. Obviously, students attending the Polish school are children of Polish Washingtonians, though some children are from families whose heritage is not only Polish. Some of the parents work at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, but the majority of parents have no affiliation with the embassy except for the school. The Polish school has its own Parents Council (Rada Rodzicow), the equivalent of American parents-teachers' associations (PTAs). Moreover, the parents' community is much broader than the Parents Council. The routine of delivering the kids to the school every Saturday morning and picking them up from school in the afternoon has grown into the lives of many Polish (or partly Polish) families in the Washington metropolitan area. On the occasion of the weekly trip to the Polish school, the parents refresh old friendships and make new acquaintances. Shortly speaking, like any school, the Polish school helps sustain the social bonds within the community and helps the community grow in many ways. For the kids, it is an additional burden of homework and class time; however, judging by their comments and the looks on their faces, it is also fun. |
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President: ACPC serves as an umbrella organization for Polish cultural organizations in the United States. "Since 1994, the American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC) has been sponsoring the Youth Leadership Conferences (YLC) in Washington, D.C., for students of Polish background, ages 17 - 24, who are interested in civic and political activism," says the ACPC website. The Polish American Arts Association of Washington, D.C., Inc., is the Council's local affiliate organization. The Polish American Society of Virginia is also an affiliate organization. In addition, Friends of John Paul II Foundation, Inc., based in Washington, is the Council's supporting organization. |
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Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division An umbrella organization for several local Polish groups |
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President: Susanne S. Lotarski, Ph.D. Vice Presidents: Thaddeus Mirecki; Edward Krauze, Esq.; Richard Wiermanski; Malgorzata Rogojski Correspondence Secretary: Irena Mirecki Recording Secretary: Roza Pace Treasurer: Carl Klonowski |
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Polonia Center is a Polish-American community-based initiative from Washington, D.C., that provides an electronic platform to promote information and events of particular concern to the Polish American community. |