PROFILES
FROM INDIA, FRANCE … AND MT. LEBANON, MEET
THREE OF OUR FAMILIES
We will be profiling different St. Edmund's families in upcoming issues of @ St. Edmund's. We start with three - the Guptas, LeGarrecs and Browns - who each have traveled decidedly varied routes to reach the school.
 SHYAMALA & NAVYASH GUPTA: "AWESOME" RECOMMENDATION
It is a scenario familiar to many families: an enticing job offer holds the promise of professional accomplishment but requires a move to a strange city, with the sometimes wrenching search for a new neighborhood, home and school. When Shyamala and Navyash Gupta moved to Pittsburgh in 1998, they brought with them the perspectives of true internationalists — and a deep, home-grown appreciation for the importance of a quality education.
Shyamala Gupta originally is from Sri Lanka but was raised mostly in different cities in northern Nigeria, where her father was a chemistry teacher. Navyash, now a vascular surgeon at Pittsburgh's Presbyterian University Hospital and an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, grew up in both his homeland India and also in Zambia, where his parents held teaching posts. 
The couple arrived in the United States, separately, in 1983 as both sets of parents were determined that their children receive American college educations. The two met as undergraduates at Indiana University. Navyash went on to medical school there, followed by his residency at St. Louis University and a fellowship at the University of Chicago.
"We really didn't know what to expect when we arrived in Pittsburgh," Shyamala recalls. "I liked the idea that it was a smaller city without all the hassles of Chicago. But we didn't know anyone and didn't know our way around."
Attracted to the older homes of Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood and its proximity to Navyash's work in Oakland, the couple bought a home not far from St. Edmund's.
Then, a colleague of Navyash's from the hospital where he then worked, who had sent his three children to St. Edmund's, recommended that the Guptas visit the school.
"He was so enthusiastic about St. Edmund's. He said 'this is an awesome place, you've got to check it out' and that carried a lot of weight with us," Shyamala remembers. "We were sold on it after the first visit."
They enrolled their son Kavish in the kindergarten. Now an eighth-grader, Kavish this month turns 13. His parents say that he has been motivated by the experienced and enthusiastic teachers who bring their love of teaching to the classroom everyday.
Over the years, the Guptas also have come to appreciate the close-knit nature of St. Edmund's, with regular parental involvement and easy faculty rapport.
"Our family is a product of a lot of different experiences, from Asia, Africa and the U.S. I'm Catholic and my husband is Hindu. What St. Edmund's has meant to us, beyond its emphasis on demanding academic work, which we value, is a certain continuity and stability. That has been important to us."
Adds Navyash, "There's a commitment to instilling lessons of morality and personal ethics at St. Edmund's, and that's a valuable element of education. We like being part of the school — it's a healthy environment."
 THE LEGARREC FAMILY:
ENERGETIC PRESENCE
When Marguerite and Jean-Dominique LeGarrec moved their family to Pittsburgh in 2003, Marguerite had more than a passing interest in education. The family had just spent six years in Namibia, an arid and impoverished country on the west coast of Africa, and it was there that Marguerite helped to launch a new school from the ground up.
Marguerite and French-born and raised Jean-Dominique, who was a partner in a French-Namibian fishery operation, were troubled by the local education system. Teachers muddled through with few resources, and were to instruct in English, the "official" language of the country, though only a handful of the teachers spoke it well themselves.
"Our school was founded as an answer to the failing school system there, and to help educate the general population," says Marguerite. Working with a group of dedicated parents, the LeGarrecs helped organize the new school and raise funds to transform a former garage into classrooms. It opened its doors in 1999 with 17 first and second-graders. Today, it serves 170 children through grade six, and a high school is in the planning stage. "It was a very satisfying experience," says Marguerite.
It was a program at the law school of the University of Pittsburgh that brought the LeGarrec family to the city's East End. Finding the right school for their three young daughters, of course, was a high priority.
"We picked St. Edmund's because it offered a solid education, first, but it also was the environment of the school, the whole community spirit," says Marguerite, who has been an energetic presence volunteering at St. Edmund's ever since.
Clare, Jorlyn and Zoe, are in sixth, fifth and second grades, respectively, this year, having made the adjustment to English—French is their first language — and city life. The girls spent a good part of this past summer swimming on the Edgewood Club's Electric Eels swim team.
The LeGarrecs hope to stay put for a while. "We love Pittsburgh. It's a great place for families," says Marguerite who grew up the Adirondack town of Glens Falls, N.Y. "It's a wonderful mix. It has all the benefits of the big city without being too crazy."
 ELIZA & BILL BROWN: IMPRESSIVE ROLE MODELS
Eliza Brown is a lifelong Pittsburgher with deep family roots in the East End and Mt. Lebanon. She has spent much of her career writing about local and regional history and architecture. Bill Brown came to Pittsburgh from New York nearly 40 years ago to join the faculty at Pitt Law School, where he taught for 32 years. He now heads the graduate tax program at Duquesne University's Graduate School of Business.
Eliza had a public school education, and Bill a parochial background; those members of Eliza's family who had attended Pittsburgh independent schools had gone to Shady Side and Ellis.
So fifteen years ago, when they were looking for a school for their firstborn, Will, the options were wide open. Eliza and Bill thought about some of the impressive men they knew in the city . . . those most apt to make good role models for their young son. As it turned out, most of those men were graduates of St. Edmund's.
"Almost without exception," recalls Bill, "these men stood out as extraordinarily bright, well-educated gentlemen with keen intellectual curiosity, good people skills, and a strong community ethic. What they also had in common was a St. Edmund's education. And this was true for men who ranged from the school's earliest graduates — before it went coed in 1985 — to some of its most recent alums."
Today, Will Brown is a student in the advanced studies program at Taylor Alderdice High School, and an outstanding rower with strong interests in computers and conservation. He recently returned from a month-long volunteer work project on trails in the Grand Tetons with the Student Conservation Association (SCA). Notably, Will's first introduction to environmental work was through a community partnership between SCA and St. Edmund's.
The Brown's other two children, Brendan and Regina, are in the seventh and fourth grades. While at St. Edmund's, they have had the chance to pursue their passions for sports and the arts, while still maintaining a strong academic focus. Brendan, who plays on the soccer, basketball, and lacrosse teams, and has sung in two of the school's choruses, will gladly tell you about the advantages of a diverse, coed classroom. "Even though our classes are small," he says, "we get to hear lots of different viewpoints."
Regina, who studies violin, is also a regionally ranked runner who has qualified for national competition, a skill she has developed as a member of St. Edmund's spirited cross-country team.
"Through the years, St. Edmund's has continued to serve our family well," says Eliza. "We've seen a lot of changes, but the value of the St. Edmund's experience remains constant. From the early childhood years through its unparalleled middle school program, St. Edmund's has become a treasured part of our family heritage."
Would you be willing to have your family profiled in an upcoming issue? Please let us know at editor@stedmunds.net.
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