About the Eva Stitt School for Newcomers

Empowering Newcomers Through Education, Language, and Opportunity

The Eva Stitt School for Newcomers is a community-rooted program of Capaz+IT, designed to support recent immigrants and refugees in the Greater Richmond area as they build new lives through education, digital literacy, and career preparation.

Named in honor of long-time educator and advocate Eva Stitt, our school provides a welcoming, structured learning environment for adults who are pursuing high school equivalency, English language acquisition, and foundational digital skills. We understand the unique challenges faced by newcomers and offer an integrated model that supports both learning and life transitions.

Our Story

The Eva Stitt School for Newcomers began with a simple but urgent question:
How can we remove the barriers that push so many immigrant students out of school?

At Capaz+IT, we saw how traditional systems were failing newcomers—ignoring the realities of language, work, trauma, and transition. In response, we created a school built around their lives: flexible, career-focused, and rooted in community.

We named it in honor of Dr. Eva Stitt, a lifelong educator who dedicated her career to expanding access for immigrants and refugees. At the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health, she created an internationally recognized interpreter training program and championed equity in education, healthcare, and employment.

Her legacy inspires our mission: to create pathways where others see barriers—and to ensure that every newcomer has the chance to learn, grow, and lead.

This isn’t just school.
It’s a new beginning.