Davidian and Mariamian Educational
Foundation Established in 1987
History
The organization was founded in 1987 by a number of concerned citizens in the City of Glendale. These individuals realized the needs for creating an environment to help the parents and the children of this large population of Armenian immigrants, from all over the world, to adjust and adapt to the culture of the great city of Los Angeles. The language barrier among the new immigrant families and their new living society created a natural gap between the parents and their local schools. This gap affects the children in their local schools directly.
Our organization believed that by establishing instruction in Armenian Language and culture in the local public schools, will be able to help narrow down this gap. The aim was to create an environment for the children in their natural learning habitat to learn about their own native language and culture. Those to enhance the communication among the students, the parents, and their local schools.
Having this goal in mind the organization established their first after-hour program in 1989 in one school with about 100 students in City of Glendale. Today, this program is being conducted in 25 schools in the Cities of Glendale, Burbank, La Canada, Granada Hills, North Hollywood, and Los Angeles with, over 600 students attending this program every year.
Philosophy
Our philosophy stems from our experiences of growing up as bilingual individuals and researches done on bilingual children.
“Bilingual children, whose native language is other than the language of their existing environment, tend to be able to learn other languages and respect other cultures in a more cohesive way, by becoming familiar and fluent in their own native language and culture”
Mission Statement
“We take it upon our program to create an environment in public schools for children to be able to learn about their native culture and become fluent in their native language, to learn about different cultures and understand the differences between them; to respect other cultures and learn to live peacefully in our beautiful multi-cultural society as law abiding citizens.”
Academic Program
D & M Educational Foundation’s programs are designed in an effort to integrate the traditional Armenian educational values and the advanced American educational methodology. This program is conducted in public elementary schools, four days a week after regular school hours, for two hours per session.