Early in Life & the Importance of Early Childhood Education | Steve Zwolak

Stephen Zwolak is the founder and CEO of LUME Institute and Executive Director of University City Children’s Center (UCCC), LUME’s lab school. Zwolak has more than 45 years of experience working in the field of early childhood. He is recognized for leading the conversation on the impact and future of early childhood education in St. Louis and beyond. His years as a classroom teacher and a leader in various educational arenas drove him to develop the LUME Approach, for which there is growing evidence of closing the racial and socioeconomic achievement gap. The LUME Approach brings together theoretical, observational, and neuroscientific research that affirms that the emotional development of children is critical to academic success and lifelong positive outcomes.

As a young teacher, Zwolak studied at the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute, an educational center for which he now periodically serves as an instructor for others in child- and family-serving professions. In 2015, he received the American Psychoanalytic Association Educational Achievement Award.

Today, Zwolak is recognized for his visionary thinking and entrepreneurial ability to create, enhance and expand programs and develop infrastructure. He develops curricula which include understanding the importance of children’s sexual development and addressing angry love with ruthless compassion in the classroom and home. As a speaker and educator known for his warm demeanor, Zwolak skillfully challenges and motivates teachers to develop reflective practices in their daily relationships with children and families and to be prepared to administer therapeutic triage using a multi-disciplinary approach. Stephen Zwolak is the founder and CEO of LUME Institute and Executive Director of University City Children’s Center (UCCC), LUME’s lab school. Zwolak has more than 45 years of experience working in the field of early childhood. He is recognized for leading the conversation on the impact and future of early childhood education in St. Louis and beyond. His years as a classroom teacher and a leader in various educational arenas drove him to develop the LUME Approach, for which there is growing evidence of closing the racial and socioeconomic achievement gap. The LUME Approach brings together theoretical, observational, and neuroscientific research that affirms that the emotional development of children is critical to academic success and lifelong positive outcomes.

As a young teacher, Zwolak studied at the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute, an educational center for which he now periodically serves as an instructor for others in child- and family-serving professions. In 2015, he received the American Psychoanalytic Association Educational Achievement Award.

Today, Zwolak is recognized for his visionary thinking and entrepreneurial ability to create, enhance and expand programs and develop infrastructure. He develops curricula which include understanding the importance of children’s sexual development and addressing angry love with ruthless compassion in the classroom and home. As a speaker and educator known for his warm demeanor, Zwolak skillfully challenges and motivates teachers to develop reflective practices in their daily relationships with children and families and to be prepared to administer therapeutic triage using a multi-disciplinary approach.