LSP365: Helping Little Sun People Survive COVID-19

Little Sun People, Inc. (LSP) is a non-profit early childhood education center that provides culturally responsive education to preschool learners in Brooklyn. Founded by Fela Barclift (Mama Fela) 40 years ago, LSP has brought to life the contributions and experience of people of African descent in the context of an academically rigorous curriculum that prepares our students holistically for what lies ahead in their varied academic and life journeys. This combination is precisely what makes an LSP education a high-quality early childhood program. It is no secret that a high-quality early childhood educational experience has a profound impact on a child’s development—cognitive, health, emotional, and otherwise. This is reflected in the fact that LSP has a waiting list that, year after year, far exceeds the slots available at our current location.

LSP has not been immune from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has its grip on the world.  We had to temporarily shut our physical doors  on March 16 to keep our LSP families and staff safe.  But with community support, we were able to reopen our doors in September to offer a blended learning program in order to meet social distancing requirements in light of our square footage.

The closure and its aftermath is taking an unimaginable financial toll on Little Sun People. Unlike many of the big independent schools in Brooklyn with large endowments,  the funding that we primarily rely on to keep our doors open comes from student tuition. But nevertheless, LSP persists! 

Here’s how you can help: The LSP365 campaign is an opportunity for YOU to support LSP through this pandemic and beyond. 

Participation in giving at any level is the most important way you can express your support for Little Sun People! No amount is too small. LSP is the school it is today because of the support of families, alumni, and friends of the school.

With gratitude,

Mama Fela & LSP's Board of Directors

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Renovations, PPE, Technology, oh my! If you haven’t already heard, NYC preschools have gotten the green light to reopen their facilities. But there is so much to be done to get Little Sun People ready to re-open in September, and we cannot do it without your help. You helped us make it thru the spring of 2020 and your generosity made all the difference. No donation is too small and every dollar makes a difference in our communities.

Keep scrolling down to learn

how YOU can help LSP re-open!

#fundBlackfutures

June 2020 Update: What's next for Little Sun People?

Since closing its physical doors on March 16, Little Sun People has made it thus far with support from a diverse cross-section of family and friends from across the country—including YOU— and we are eternally grateful. With your support, whether it was financial or pounding the pavement to make sure that Little Sun People had access to Payroll Protection Program funding, we were able to continue a remote learning program, pay our teaching staff for their work through the end of the 2019-2020 academic year, and have a mini-graduation for our class of 2020. And in the midst of the ongoing crises, LSP has joined the Brooklyn Coalition of Early Childhood Programs to advocate for a serious investment in early childhood education in our beloved borough. 

While we had hoped to have some sort of in-school experience starting in July, it just cannot happen yet. Little Sun People is governed by the New York City Department of Health and, like all other private childcare providers not currently open for children of essential workers, has been ordered to keep its physical doors closed until further notice. 

We anticipate being able to open our physical location in September, but there is much to be done to prepare for the space for the new normal of physical distancing and amplified hygiene. Without the proper preparation, we will not be able to open our doors when the Department of Health starts to allow childcare providers to do so. And while we are advocating for a bailout for early childcare providers, we cannot wait for that to happen to start planning for our future! We need YOUR HELP to raise the following: 

1.     $30,000-$40,000 for renovations. Specifically to renovate the bathrooms currently on site and install handwashing/sanitizing stations beyond the bathrooms.

2.     $10,000 to upgrade technology and IT support. Even once things open, it is more likely than not that there will need to be a remote learning component to our program--whether it be for a staggered schedule with students switching between in-person and remote learning or for students who for health reasons cannot attend in-person classes at all. Moreover, if the state requires another shut down at any point in the school year, we will need to return to a full-on remote learning mode. While we made it from March thru June with our current equipment, an upgrade is sorely needed so that our teachers have what they need to focus on the substance of remote learning—not avoidable technology woes. Specifically, we need new large-monitor computers for each classroom as well as laptops that teachers can use when teaching from home.

3.     $10,000-$15,000 for PPE and cleaning supplies.  If you’ve spent any time with children between the ages of 2 and 5, you know that they are prone to make all sorts of messes. Let’s just say that we anticipate needing more PPE and cleaning supplies than other types of establishments that cater primarily to adults. It is already a challenge determining where to source these materials from and we need to start purchasing a significant amount now to be well prepared come September.

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Dear Beloved Little Sun People Community,

Little Sun People (LSP) has not been immune from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has its grip on the world.  We have had to temporarily shut our doors since March 16 to keep our LSP families and staff safe. 

This closure and its aftermath is taking an unimaginable financial toll on Little Sun People. Unlike many of the big independent schools in Brooklyn with large endowments,  the funding that we primarily rely on to keep our doors open comes from student tuition. But nevertheless, LSP persists! Our educators have been able to adapt quickly, offering our families a web-based video-conference class every morning and afternoon.  Our students have been cooking, painting, reading, writing, and dancing together! We are a tight-knit community committed to educating our children in the best of times and the worst of times.

We need YOU to help us get through this so that when it is safe for us to reopen, we are ready to do so.

It is also crucial that we are able to physically open our doors again to provide our highly sought after Cultural Explorers Summer Program and begin a new school year in the fall, should it be deemed safe to do so. Ensuring our building expenses remain current will position us well to be able to do so without delay. No one could have imagined the impact Covid-19 would take on our collective mental, emotional, physical and financial well-being. In this "new normal" what will gathering together again look like? Implementing social distancing in a space we have already outgrown and PPE for staff and students where required are just a few items that all have associated costs that we are now factoring into an already wounded budget.

Approval for the Payroll Protection Program is some much needed good news, but the battle for Little Sun People (LSP) to survive Covid-19 is far from over.

No donation is too small and your support is needed now more than ever. Thank you for pulling together with us as we attempt to provide some sense of normalcy for our little sun people during these unprecedented times.

Harambee,

Mama Fela & LSP Board of Directors

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Little Sun People, Inc. (LSP) is a non-profit early childhood education center that provides culturally responsive education to preschool learners in Brooklyn. Founded by Fela Barclift (Mama Fela) 40 years ago, LSP has brought to life the contributions and experience of people of African descent in the context of an academically rigorous curriculum that prepares our students holistically for what lies ahead in their varied academic and life journeys. This combination is precisely what makes an LSP education a high-quality early childhood program.

It is no secret that a high-quality early childhood educational experience has a profound impact on a child’s development—cognitive, health, emotional, and otherwise. This is reflected in the fact that LSP has a waiting list that, year after year, far exceeds the 56 slots available at our current location.

As a community, we have long outgrown our current space of 4,250 square feet, making it impossible to welcome more preschoolers to our LSP family.  So, we are calling on the communities that believe in and support LSP to bring us closer to realizing our expansion goals!

Here’s how you can help: The LSP365 campaign is an opportunity for YOU to support LSP with $365 for a year. That amounts to one dollar ($1) a day, approximately $30 a month. This will position LSP to maintain operational excellence while moving to a state-of-the-art facility.

Participation in giving at any level is the most important way you can express your support for Little Sun People! No amount is too small. LSP is the school it is today because of the support of families, alumni, and friends of the school.