In December, our school reached the important milestone of one year since its inception. Along with our students, we learned a lot over the last year. We were presented with a number of great opportunities and overcame unexpected challenges.
This year we focused on taking care of our clients, doing things right the first time and making sure that promises made were kept—to our clients, our instructors, translators and one another.
We are most proud of the following accomplishments in 2013:
- Launched both group-based and private Russian, Mandarin, Arabic and ESL lessons in five Chicago neighborhoods
- Launched online Russian and Arabic classes for children and adults in small towns in Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Washington and Colorado who otherwise would not have had access to these languages in their hometowns
- Launched ESL instruction for children and adults in Russia
- Hired new teachers for four different languages all around the U.S.
- Expanded globally to attract new students from Europe and Eurasia
- Helped the non-profit Upwardly Global to provide jobs for two talented candidates
- Began working with Chicago Public Schools