Meet Leslie De Leonardis of St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School in Silver Lake

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie De Leonardis.

Leslie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was raised by incredibly hard-working parents who immigrated from Italy to Sun Valley, CA in the late 1970s. They left behind their home to come to a new country where they needed to start over with nothing. My older sister and I grew up having two incredible role models who surrounded us with love and showed us what perseverance looks (like on all levels) – with incredible food to boot!

I LOVED school. I am a complete and utter nerd who loves everything to do with learning – especially math and science (my dog’s name is Einstein). My parents sacrificed financially to send us to Catholic School from Kindergarten through High School. Attending Catholic School is where I found my passion not just for learning, but for Catholic Education in general. After high school and graduating from UCLA, I decided to give teaching a try and put my love of learning to the test. I was hired for my first teaching position at St. Francis of Assisi School (SFA) in Silver Lake teaching junior high math and science, and was promoted to Vice Principal shortly after my first year. After seven years at SFA, I moved to St. Ignatius of Loyola in Highland Park for 2 years to teach math and science.

Today, I find myself being the Principal of St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School (SFA) – the very place that I started my teaching career! I was asked to return to SFA, as Principal, about 5 years ago when SFA was at a crossroads. I embraced the chance to rebuild SFA and infuse it with my enjoy of learning and excellence – specifically in science and math (STEM). My wonderful team and I created an innovative STEM model that applies Social Justice to the engineering design process within science and math – a learning model called STREAM.

Being part of the transformation at St. Francis of Assisi has been an honor. Working alongside a fantastic team of educators, SFA has emerged as an innovative place of learning where students are engaged in math and science (within the engineering design process). SFA is a hidden gem within Los Angeles and is considered one of the most innovative programs in the Archdiocese.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I would not be where I am today without struggles and meeting great people along the journey.

Like most young adults, I went through an inner conflict about my career choice. After investing over seven years in teaching at SFA, I was considering a change and began to take concrete steps to leave the education world. However, as I was planning my next career phase, I got a call about a Math teacher needed at another Catholic School. I decided to interview, although I was still planning to move away from teaching – and what happened next came as a complete surprise. I connected with the principal at St. Ignatius of Loyola and rediscovered my passion for teaching at this beautiful Catholic school in Highland Park. That call from Meg – who I now call my mentor – saved me from making a decision that would have taken me away from a career I love.

Two years later, Meg called again. St. Francis of Assisi was having a tough time and needed help to get back on its feet. Would I consider coming back to SFA but as the principal? There were only 57 students enrolled – and it was struggling to stay open. The math and science “nerd” part of my brain got really excited realizing this was my opportunity to truly affect some innovative change in learning for our youth – by starting with a smaller population.

Immediately, I began researching ‘how to implement a STEM program’. The thought of creating a program that gives access to STEM learning to boys and girls, starting as young as age four inspired me to look past all the blaring obstacles, especially related to finances.

Lots of growing pains – but the outcome makes the struggles feel like blessings (cliché, I know, but now I understand why people say that).

Today, in our 3rd year of implementing this program, we have almost doubled our enrollment. We’re getting a lot of great attention from funders and other schools looking to us as a model. We have been so Blessed! The daily growing pains persist, in fact the faculty and I are on day 5 of a “21 Complaint Free Living” Challenge to remind us NOT to focus on these. Wish us luck!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School (SFA) is a Catholic school in Silver Lake with grades from Transitional Kindergarten to 8th Grade. If I had to come up with one line describing our specialty as a Catholic School it would be: “Excellence in Innovative Learning to Compassionately Serve the World”.

There was a lot of educational research that went into the development of our learning model. The STREAM program, coupled with a multiage curriculum, is like no other. As part of the curriculum each week, students experience a type of ‘problem-posing’ education which allows children in TK-8 to take charge in leading their own learning. Students research the problem, come up with a solution, design and test the solution, and redesign /re-test as needed. Our students get access to the real world, tangible learning at our school. Embedded in this learning is an understanding and application of social justice issues. We want to make sure our students understand from an early age that they have a stake in this world and the power to affect change in their community.

I am very proud of this, which wouldn’t be possible without our incredible teaching staff and auxiliary staff. They are pioneers in their own right and work harder than any other group of people I have encountered. I may be biased, but they leave me in awe every single day.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I always have big plans! We plan, as a school, to further grow, define, and establish our STREAM curriculum. We have established relationships with educational foundations to work with us on that front. We are looking to further extend STREAM into the school schedule – do a STREAM hour everyday instead of once a week. This requires even more research and funding, but we are on a great track to do so and have come too far not to see it come to fruition.

Lastly, I, on a personal level, aim to continue spreading my passion and love of STEM and social justice to as many students as possible – while preparing them for jobs that don’t even exist yet. The only way I can do that is for me to keep learning as well and keep my passion for education, especially Catholic Education, alive and thriving!

Contact Info:

• Address: 1550 Maltman Ave
  Los Angeles, CA 90026
• Website: http://www.stfrancisla.com/
• Phone: (323) 665-3601
• Email: ldeleonardis@stfrancisla.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sfaschoolla/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SFAschoolLA/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SFASchoolLA
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/st-francis-of-assisi-catholic-school-los-angeles

Image Credit:
Javier de Leon

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