Louise Bergerson and Adriana Leon, acquaintances of many years, realized some time ago that there was a language challenge for many Latinos living on the East End of Long Island. Being a native of Ecuador, Adriana faced this issue when she first came to live in East Hampton. She needed to improve her English communication skills but found that there weren’t enough opportunities to practice them. Louise and Adriana created a program that did not exist locally at that time: an evening language program that offered classes in English as a Second Language, with a class schedule that accommodated work schedules. When the first ESL program was launched in 2014, it became an instant success. Over fifty students registered and attended classes at the first location in Wainscott.

By 2018, the program moved to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton. This new location allowed us to expand our student capacity to 120 students, and we recruited more volunteer teachers to help meet the growing demand for classes.

The pandemic in 2020 and 2021 created difficult circumstances for everyone in the area; nonetheless, our adult students adapted to remote learning and our program continued, despite the challenges.

In 2022, we were back stronger than before, ready for further expansion. Ruta27—now fully certified as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization—was given permission to hold evening classes at East Hampton High School. This move allowed us to expand the number of students we could accommodate, with more than 250 students enrolled in our programs by the 2024-2025 academic program year.

Ruta27 further expanded its capacity to serve students and add special programs by acquiring our three-classroom space, the Language Lab, located at 15 Toilsome Lane. The new location allows our students to practice their English every day of the week. It allows us to include special programs outside of the usual classroom curriculum offered at the East Hampton High School.