Dear Supporters of Red Balloon Preschool:
I hope the start of the new school year finds you well, and I want to thank you for your ongoing support of our school. I am pleased to have some positive updates for you! I want to start by thanking the Columbia/Barnard undergraduate students of Student Worker Solidarity (SWS), whose advocacy on behalf of Red Balloon brought us a meeting with Columbia senior administration. SWS representatives Maeve Cunningham, Andrew Timberg, Oscar Lloyd and Christian Gist, Columbia administration officials Gerald Rosberg, Dennis Mitchell, Shailagh Murray, Soulaymane Kachani and Red Balloon Parent Board Vice President Rui Xiao and myself met to discuss Columbia revoking Red Balloon’s lease and affiliation. Red Balloon's home at 560 Riverside will be closed this year for renovations, but will reopen soon as a non-profit childcare facility very much in the spirit of Red Balloon, with the space being offered for free. Through our conversations, Columbia agreed to offer financial assistance to Red Balloon families still needing preschool for the current school year, and paid the last several weeks of Red Balloon's expenses as we wound down the 2022-2023 school year. Please see the statement from Columbia with more details.
I want to thank Columbia for the financial gift to the school, and for the aid provided to Red Balloon families. These acts of good faith go a long way after many months of fighting to be heard, and for that I am deeply grateful. I want to thank our many representatives, including Councilman Shaun Abreu, Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell and Representative Adriano Espaillat for supporting us, and for our friends at Color of Change, who joined our fight and led our petition delivery. Our support from so many in our community was both heartening and humbling.
Thank you for caring about the community of our little school. We know, both intuitively and from the scholarship, how meaningful accessible, affordable, excellent childcare is both for the well-being of children during their most informative years, but also to the well-being of families, especially working mothers. Please know that myself and others in leadership positions at Red Balloon will continue to work with Columbia to insist that a childcare space is created in which all children and families are welcome. I look forward to updating you as more concrete plans are laid out, and I’m eager to share positive advances.
Sincerely,
Annapurna Potluri Schreiber
President, Red Balloon Parent Board