The Earth shook on the day, April 5th, 2024 of our Groundbreaking party. This is how connected we are with the elements:-) A former and future family opened their doors to parents and friends of LLS—many of whom they have yet to know personally. But they have invited us because of their love for and trust in the LLS community. This community is what drives me, sustains me. It is my raison d’être—my reason for being. This is what has moved me to push boundaries and stand confident in front of challenges. The trust I have in this community—and the trust this community has extended to me means that we can rely on one another—we are accountable. I have worked the last 20 years to be a part of this community—a community of people who believe that there is some work to do to create a better world. We all do our best work in community, that is to say, we can only really solve problems together.
There are moments in time when you have the privilege of sharing a message that is truly revolutionary. This is one of those moments: the transformation of LLS from a 2-room schoolhouse to a full-fledged center for early childhood bilingual education and francophone community center.
After 18 years of watching children grow within our community in Boerum Hill, we are transitioning to a new space in Clinton Hill. This is more than a new chapter in our life—this is not just a move into a new space… We are writing the proverbial book on the merits of bilingual education and moving into a future of interconnected awareness that addresses the pressing issues of our time—the environment and social justice—through art and child-centered education.
The pandemic adversely affected all of us. Increasingly, studies have shown just how badly it affected children when considering how remote learning had a negative, long-term impact on their academic and social skills.
As restrictions eased, I jumped at the chance to return to the classroom in a way that ensured the requisite physical distance while immersing children in an intimate environment: Nature.
In 2020, we moved our school to the park! In doing so, we discovered that moving outside of our walls and undertaking this drastic shift allowed us to think so much more creatively about how to teach children and how to engage with the community on another level.
The pandemic is officially over, but the events that turned global attention to social justice movements still matter.
This combination of environmental and social justice inspired me to undertake what we are celebrating this evening: the opening of an innovative space that can better serve children and families where we can experiment, launch new initiatives, and try out different things. The purpose of our move is really to have a space that is conducive to art experimentation and really create a hub for us to build a community centered around arts and social justice and environmental justice.
Our new home designed by Architects Beth O’Neill and Chris Mc Voy, will present arts programming of the highest quality with a level of excellence on par with the largest cultural centers in New York City. Our children will engage with a wide array of artistic opportunities from around the world, exposing them to diversity in expression, content, and purpose.
