There is a photo on the wall of Mrs. Maricha Villagra's office that most students have never noticed. It shows a small room — bare walls, four plastic chairs, a chalkboard — and a woman standing in front of it with a look that is equal parts nervous and determined. That woman is a younger version of the director herself. That room was the first classroom at Lumen School. The year was 1996.

Thirty years later, Lumen School has hundreds of students, a full secondary programme, a robotics team, a yearly musical, and a student newspaper. Mrs. Villagra still arrives before anyone else every morning. She sat down with The Lumen Lantern to talk about all of it.

"I didn't start Lumen because I had a perfect plan. I started it because I believed that children in this neighbourhood deserved something better, and I was willing to try to give it to them." — Mrs. Maricha Villagra, Director & Founder, Lumen School
Can you take us back to the very beginning? What was the moment you decided to start Lumen School?
I was teaching at another school and I kept seeing students who were incredibly bright but who were being left behind — not because of ability, but because of resources and attention. One afternoon I sat down and just wrote out what the school I wanted to work in would look like. Then I realised: if I can describe it, maybe I can build it. I went home and told my husband. He said, "You are completely crazy." Then he helped me find the building.
What were the hardest early days like?
The first year I had eleven students. I was the teacher, the administrator, and sometimes the janitor. There were weeks when I was not sure we would have enough to keep the lights on. But those eleven families trusted me, and that was enough to keep going. When you have eleven families counting on you, you do not give up.
Looking back over 30 years, what is the single moment you are most proud of?
It is impossible to choose one. But if I have to — there was a student, many years ago, who came to Lumen speaking almost no Spanish. He struggled terribly in the first year. Last month he sent me a message to tell me he had just been accepted to a university in Chile. He wrote: "Lumen gave me the confidence to believe I was worth educating." That is why we exist.
What are your plans for Lumen's next 30 years?
Growth is not the goal. Quality is the goal. I want every student who walks through those doors to feel genuinely seen and genuinely challenged. If we can keep doing that — whether we have 200 students or 500 — then the next 30 years will be a success. And I hope the students who are here now will one day send their own children to Lumen. That would be the real anniversary gift.

The 30th anniversary celebrations are planned throughout the year, including a community open day in April, a documentary produced by Lumen students, and a gala dinner in September for alumni, families, and staff. More details will be published in upcoming issues of The Lumen Lantern.

As the interview ended, Mrs. Villagra walked this reporter to the door and paused at that photo on the wall. "Sometimes I forget to look at it," she said. "But when I do, I remember that everything here started with that one room and a lot of hope." She smiled. "Turns out hope is a pretty good foundation."