Literacy Network and Omega School hosted a joint press conference on Sept. 20 at Omega School to announce that the two non-profit organizations will merge next year to combine and continue services on education.
The two will merge together next year after Omega School’s longtime executive director, Oscar Mireles, announced his retirement. The school was founded for those 18 and older to find success outside of a traditional high school setting. After 30 years in, Mireles approached the Literacy Network with hopes to continue long-standing efforts. Both were in talks for over a year as to how it could enter the Literacy Network’s fold and realized its common goals to educate.
Now, the two will officially merge at the start of 2025 and currently work towards a seamless transition to continue services.
“Omega is an opportunity to work with young people who are at the crossroads of their lives. They had sometimes made decisions that weren’t in their best interest, and when you’re young, I know I’ve made many of those, but what we were able to do is help them figure it out,” Mireles said. “I could not have imagined 30 years ago that I’d be here at this point, but it’s been a pleasure to provide this service to the community.”
Mireles came to Omega School on April 1, 1994 — which he said was not the most ideal start date. Under his eye, the school worked to provide equitable opportunities in education. Similarly, a bit up the street from Omega Schools, the Literacy Network was engaged in the same realm of work.
Omega School was founded in 1972 and the Literacy Network in 1974. Both offer paths toward education for adults seeking to gain credentials to improve their lives. Despite the missions being within the same vein, the two differ.
Omega School is an alternative educational path for adults to obtain a GED or High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED). The Literacy Network aims to combat issues in literacy through improvement of English language skills. It also offers GED programs to students.
“When Oscar and I started talking, I think we knew fairly quickly that this was going to work as a merger because our missions are so well aligned,” said Robin Ryan, executive director of the Literacy Network. “The mission alignment and our joint expertise was a good match… We’re not really duplicative.”
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
Cecilia Gillhouse, who attended both Omega School and the Literacy Network, shared her story where she sought education after she arrived in the United States.
Gillhouse came from Argentina in April 2001. She attended Omega School to receive her GED, which she obtained in October 2002. Almost three years later, Gillhouse received her first bilingual job in Madison.
“It was the moment where I was able to reach one of many dreams I had when I left my country — a better job and opportunity,” Gillhouse said. “I didn’t even consider myself a fully bilingual person.”
Mireles encouraged her to keep going and that her journey wasn’t done yet. He pushed Gillhouse to practice her English. Gillhouse went on to attend the Literacy Network. She struggled to keep up while holding down two jobs, and occasionally a third, but when she was matched up with an English tutor, everything changed.
“I feel accomplished, but I know I did not do it alone,” Gillhouse said. “Many people are part of this success. Many in the community have made my journey a better one, and I am the result of a lot of work and a lot of years of work, of family support and community guidance.”
She went on to start her own small business, MMG Law, with her husband to provide legal services with a focus on immigrants. Gillhouse has also been named the new executive director of Open Doors for Refugees. She is now after a new goal to obtain her bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Other notable alumni of Omega School include former Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. He credits Omega School as “one of the most important moments of my life,” in a testimony on its website.
Plans for Omega Schools are to keep the status quo on services. The Literacy Network hopes to maintain a transition that does not impede its offerings to students and maintains its mission in education. It is currently looking for a new executive director to lead Omega School.
The two will fully merge on Jan. 1, 2025.
