Please see below the announcement from Beacon Academy:
"We are thrilled to announce that we have found a forever home for our beloved Beacon. Our new headquarters for equity in education is located at 814 South Street, in the heart of Roslindale Village. This impressive 17,000 square foot granite church was most recently the base for Boston School for Modern Languages and we are embarking on a process to get it ready for the Fall of 2021. We can’t wait to have the capacity to bring together our current students, alumni, their families, our volunteers, and the community. You will be hearing more about this project and the impact it will have on our program in the coming months and we look forward to welcoming you into our space as soon as it is feasible.
"Beacon is incredibly grateful for the partnership we have had with Temple Israel for the past 16 years. The Temple’s leadership and congregants have made it possible for us to realize our dreams; they have been unwavering in their support of our mission. We look forward to continuing our relationship with the Temple for years to come.
"We could not have made this vision a reality without the passionate and dedicated leadership of Marsha Feinberg and Cindy Laba. Marsha started the process by engaging a group of committed donors to purchase the building and Cindy tenaciously sought out and investigated numerous properties throughout the Boston area. While we have secured the building, we will continue to raise funds to complete the necessary renovations and build Beacon’s endowment for the future.
"Our second piece of news is bittersweet. Marsha has decided to retire from Beacon at the end of this year. She will be transitioning her duties over the course of this fall.
"Marsha’s dedication over these 17 years helped bring Beacon from an idea into a powerful reality. Her hard work, leadership, and vision helped lay a solid foundation for this most exciting moment in our history — the purchase of our new building, a robust endowment, and a growing community of volunteers and champions. While planning to move on for years to spend more time with her family and friends, Marsha realized that now with these steady anchors in place, she could leave the organization in a strong position with a bright future ahead.
"She will always love and admire the hundreds of students, alumni, and family members with whom she has shared this journey. It is with so much gratitude that we thank Marsha for founding Beacon and for her nearly two decades of commitment that have inspired so many friends to join in the mission. Her passion over these many years helped grow Beacon into the powerful and sustainable organization it is today.
"We look forward to honoring Marsha’s commitment to Beacon at some point in the future when it is safe to do so. A legacy such as this deserves so much more than a Zoom.
"Despite many changes and some uncertainty at the start of the school year, under Cindy’s guidance, we have our newest class of students in their third week of in-person school at Temple Israel. It means so much to our students to be together. We can't wait to be together with you all, our greatest champions."
