Dear Brilla staff, families, and friends:
Welcome to the latest edition of The Perch! We hope that you and your family are well during this holiday season. As the days get colder and the year draws to an end, we at Brilla are reflecting on the dedicated members of our community who make our mission come to life. The daily, often unnoticed, but incredibly impactful efforts of our teachers, staff, parents, supporters, and community members are shining a light in the Bronx and forming our students for lives of flourishing. In this edition, we highlight just a few of these people.
The Brilla Board of Trustees give generously of their time overseeing the well-being of our organization, offering critical guidance and encouragement. This Thanksgiving, our Brilla Board members generously sponsored our annual Thanksgiving meal raffle which supports members of our school community. During the beloved Thanksgiving ‘roosting rally,’ across our campuses, students and staff gather to give thanks and give back to their community. Thanks to our board sponsorship, we distributed thousands of dollars worth of vouchers for Thanksgiving meals. Parents tuned in to the celebration remotely and joyful students bound home with balloons and vouchers in hand, eager to share the gift with their families.
This season also comes with exciting news of growth. We are thrilled to announce that this October, a new Brilla charter was approved by the state of New Jersey, which authorizes Brilla to open a brand new school in Paterson, New Jersey in the fall of 2023. A powerful testament to our model and our dedicated supporters, this was the first and only new charter to be approved in the state of New Jersey in four years
A big thank you goes to Brilla founding board member, Anthony J. de Nicola, who encouraged Paterson community leader Monsignor Eugene (Geno) Sylva, to visit Brilla and our partner after-school program, El Camino. Monsignor Geno was touched and impressed by what he witnessed, and became determined to bring Brilla and El Camino to Paterson. The possibility of a Brilla school received support from more than 2,000 local residents. The school will open on what is called the “Block of Mercy” with kindergarten, first, and fifth grade classes, and will grow to serve children in K-8th grades. We are humbled by the support and eager for the opportunity to bring high quality education, based on the dignity of the human person, to Paterson.
With growth also comes change, and it is with bittersweet sentiments that we announce Kelsey LaVigne steps down from her role as Chief of Schools this winter. As a founding Brilla leader, Kelsey shaped Brilla’s joyful culture from the ground up and has served in nearly every capacity. Indeed, she knows Brilla’s culture so well that she will share its story through the publication of a forthcoming book on organizational culture. While she will be deeply missed, we are thrilled that she will be able to share her extraordinary talents with a wider audience—including her second child, Faye, who was born this month! With immense gratitude, we wish Kelsey all the best as she begins this new chapter in life.
At Brilla, character formation is at the heart of our holistic educational model. Our Character Initiatives team has been working for over three years alongside Caitlin Klien at LeverageED to create a manual which explains Character Initiatives at Brilla. We are thrilled to share with you now this completed document, Character Initiatives Theory & Praxis, which we hope will be an invaluable resource both for those seeking an introduction to our model and those seeking to deepen their understanding of specific components. This manual explains both the high-level vision (theory) behind our model as well as the specific practices (praxis) happening daily across Brilla Schools.
To all of our readers, thank you for your continued support and interest in our mission of forming students in good character and spirit. On behalf of the entire Brilla Schools Network, I wish you and your family a very merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and a happy New Year.
Warm regards,
Luanne D. Zurlo
Executive Director, Brilla Schools Network
Brilla Public Charter Schools 