Watch Our New Home Come to Life
- Jennifer Kempin
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
A progress update from Fáilte Academy, and a few ways you can help us cross the finish line.
Some kids have never had a school where they truly belong.
For the past few years, I've been building that kind of place, one neurodivergent learner at a time, inside my own home. A small, mixed-age cohort. A low-demand, relationship-first approach. A space built around children's nervous systems instead of asking their nervous systems to bend around the room.
And then we outgrew it.
Families were waiting. Children who don't fit in traditional classrooms were asking for something different. So this spring, our little microschool, Fáilte Academy, moved into a larger home in Bryn Mawr, on Philadelphia's Main Line, a space big enough to welcome more of the kids who need us.
But moving in was only the beginning. A big, echoey, worn-down hall doesn't become a calm school home on its own. That's the work we're in the middle of right now, and I wanted to share how far we've already come... and what's left to do.
How far we've come
None of this would have been possible without an incredible head start: a $10,000 grant from VELA. That grant helped cover our moving costs, our first months of rent as we ramp up enrollment, and the very first round of repairs. It's the reason we got through the door at all.
From there, your donations — many of them small, all of them meaningful — have already started to transform the space:
New curtains to soften the light and dampen the echo
A top-to-bottom deep cleaning
New rugs with padding underfoot, which make the whole room quieter and warmer
And right now, this week and next, something big is happening: the entire hall is being painted. One generous family stepped up to sponsor an entire classroom, and St. Luke's Church is contributing to the painting as well. These are significant gifts, and they're going to change how the whole space feels the moment you walk in.
What's next
The next project is a big one: replacing carpets that are more than thirty years old. Two of our smaller rooms still have worn, tired flooring that needs to go. This is the piece we need help funding next.
After that, we're truly in the home stretch — just a handful of things stand between us and a finished space:
Two bookshelves for storage
Two real wood learning tables — not the folding tables we're using now, but warm, sturdy tables that feel cozy and permanent
And the thing our kids are most excited about: the Swedish ladder for our sensory room
What we're building toward
Here's the vision we're working to make real.
An AI rendering of Fáilte Academy's calm, sensory-friendly main hall with soft colors, rugs, and cozy seating:
A calm, open main hall with soft colors, rugs to land on, and room to move and regulate.
AI image of our warm, uncluttered and inviting classroom with, wood furniture that invites focus instead of overwhelming it.
And a true sensory room — a swing to climb into, soft light, places to move, and that long-awaited Swedish ladder — so kids have somewhere to go before a hard moment becomes a hard day.
Why this isn't "just" décor
For our kids, none of this is decoration.
A loud, echoey, visually chaotic room can tip a child into shutdown or meltdown before learning even begins. A calmer space, softer colors, rugs underfoot, quiet corners to land in, places to move and regulate can change the entire day. It's the difference between a child bracing themselves all morning and a child finally being able to exhale.
When you help us finish this space, you're making room for more children who've been turned away or misunderstood elsewhere. You're giving them a school home that says, you belong here exactly as you are. And you're helping Fáilte live out its promise: Where Learning Begins with Belonging.
We're so close
We are genuinely in the home stretch of turning this building into something beautiful, but it's going to take help to get us there. Every gift, large or small, moves us closer to opening the doors of a calmer, more welcoming school home.
If you've ever wished there were better options for neurodivergent kids, this is a concrete way to help build one.
Become part of our donor wall
As our new home comes together, so will a living donor wall in our entryway — a growing tree that celebrates the people who made this space possible.
A gift of $500 or more earns a leaf on the wall.
A gift of $1,000 or more earns a large leaf.
Every name on that wall is a reminder to our kids of how many people believed they belonged here.
Fáilte Academy is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and all donations are tax-deductible.
With gratitude,
Jennifer
Executive Director
Fáilte Academy
Comments