Urmila started with some small wooden tables and cheap newsprint workbooks that they “inherited” from a previous school. With twelve students, all of whom were in kindergarten through fourth grade, they hired three teachers and set up a school in the lower floor of a house that the local temple owned.
Soon the school moved to their own house - first in the basement (see above) and then in the upstairs bedrooms (see below). Through funds from their own computer business, they gradually provided nice desks and chairs, first-class textbooks and even a computer work station with the latest Apple computers. Pratyatosa spent many months fixing up rooms as classrooms, and Urmila took courses in education and school administration. Soon she became the principal and immediately started to develop a curriculum which became the basis for Vaikuntha Children.
After some years, they had a beautiful school, with enough room for 64 students, built on the property of the Bhaktivedanta Cultural Center. (see below) The school now had an extensive library, computer lab, science equipment, and a comprehensive curriculum. The students’ high achievement, in areas of spiritual, character, and academic development, gave the school an excellent reputation.
Padma Academy has its roots in Detroit in 1982, when Pratyatosa and
Urmila and Pratyatosa
When they moved to North Carolina in 1990, most of the supplies and materials stayed in Detroit. But they brought their experience and expertise, and worked with the community to develop a mission and policies that continue to set the tone for the school today. Immediately starting with kindergarten through twelfth grade, Urmila for many years was virtually the only staff member. The school was located for a year in a small rented facility (see below)...
Teacher Iksvaku
.... and then for three years in a rented building on a beautiful expanse of 17 acres. (see below)
Finally she was able to secure donations to purchase a building near the New Goloka Temple. (see below)
