Academic Results

Pivoting to e-Learning

Transitioning from on-campus learning to the implementation of our School Continuity e-Learning Plan, in both synchronous and asynchronous modes, in mid-March was certainly no easy task. Unsurprisingly, though, our families, our students, our faculty, and our staff all came together to embrace a new mode of learning in a short period of time.

Behind the scenes, our phenomenal faculty and staff members worked around the clock to roll out the School’s first-ever e-Learning program. Working creatively and diligently, our IT and academic teams introduced, and trained faculty on, new online teaching tools in a matter of just a few days. Our teachers, from elementary right through high school, swiftly reworked their lesson plans to present their classes remotely, keeping students engaged and extending their care well beyond our classroom walls. In short, they revolutionized the way we deliver learning at LILA. Yet, the core remains: the innovation has not stopped; the caring has not stopped.

The initial two-week period quickly turned into a full three months of e-Learning. Having stepped up to the exigencies of online learning, and bolstered by their tremendous dedication, our faculty and staff continued to support not only the continuity of our students’ bilingual education, but also our students themselves. What’s more, each remote class offered our preschool through 12th grade students the opportunity to embody our school core values of respect, excellence, and diversity.

Though it may be from afar, via e-Learning courses, we remained committed to our mission to develop bilingual critical thinkers who are open-minded, confident, and caring. In unprecedented times such as these, what better purpose to have than to nurture empathetic, outward-looking, involved e-citizens who will care for the world around them.

Building Community in the Age of COVID

During the safer-at-home period, our community remained extremely engaged, proving once again its strength and its distinctiveness.

At LILA, talent is available in spades – and that’s an understatement. During the COVID-19 safer at home orders, the ties that bind LILA’s community did not loosen; in fact, they tightened. Several community-building initiatives were put in place by the various LILA campuses, including morning yoga for Burbank students and afternoon storytime by Los Feliz librarian Maja. The team put together an easy-to-access community resource list. To maintain a direct link with the community, Head of School Michael Maniska also held several e-péritifs. But what really kept LILA’s community strong are first and foremost the initiatives started by many parents.

In Orange County, middle schoolers welcomed LILA parent and financial planner Dan Dodgen as a guest speaker in their investment elective. Pasadena mom Pilar Lafuente, principal scientist at a leading pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturer, joined the 5th grade class to share a timely lesson about the human immune system. In the culinary field, Michelin starred Chef Ludo (Ludovic Lefebvre), father at West Valley, shared a few secrets on Instagram. Over in the health and wellness field, Los Feliz mom Shiloh Filin, a certified yoga instructor, held free online sessions every day on her YouTube channel. For Burbank families, a series of master classes, organized by IB CAS Coordinator Athelia Edwards and featuring parent experts, allowed students, parents, and faculty members alike to learn more about various fields and careers.

LILA’s Parents’ Associations (PAs) also played an important role. Wanting to foster some sense of normalcy, the PAs made it a priority to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week. Students prepared digital folders filled with videos, drawings, and notes that were sent to their teachers. And, of course, parents also took the time to decompress via frequent virtual happy hours together.