Lekha History

Lekha started in 2002 as a children’s book publisher. Founder Jyoti Yelagalawadi published her friend Richard McKenzie’s Poems From the Playground and Other Places. Jyoti began researching her own book, Laugh With Dinosaurs.

Jyoti published her own book, Laugh With Dinosaurs.

Jyoti developed methods and curriculum that make the foundation of the Lekha Writing Center.

Jyoti taught her first students (beside her children) at Citizen School with a semester-long after-school publishing workshop.

Jyoti began teaching at independent locations when a friend asked her to teach her child to write. The first class included six children in grades 2-6. In two weeks, each wrote a story and created a book.

Lekha Studio was founded in West San Jose. While Jyoti continued teaching after-school classes, she started spring break writing camp. She also began a 4-week summer camp with 20 students, expanding the student population beyond Jyoti’s circle of friends.

Tyler Sadoff wrote his first draft of A Journey in Time as a Lekha student.

Lekha hires its first teacher and expands its programs to include a ten weeks of writing camp.

Lekha publishes its first student anthology, Adventures of the Imagination, 2006-2008.

Lekha expands its educational programs to six locations serving 200 students: North San Jose, Oakland, Redwood City, South San Jose, Sunnyvale, and West San Jose.

Lekha publishes A Journey in Time by Tyler Sadoff.

Lekha partners with Delphi Academy and Granada Islamic School to present Lekha classes as after-school enrichment programs at school sites.

Lekha publishes Poems From the Playground and Other Places by Richard J. McKenzie.

Lekha expands its educational programs to 10 additional locations (Campbell, Concord, Danville, Dublin, Foster City, Millbrae, Moreland School District, Redwood City Parks & Recreation, San Mateo and South San Francisco) serving over 800 registrants.

Lekha publishes Comida Deliciosa y Saludable: Barriga Feliz! by Sanjana Rao. Lekha creates an online magazine, Young Wordsmiths, to publish student authors.

Lekha educational programs expand to City of Belmont, City of Pacifica, locations in Pleasanton, San Carlos, San Jose, San Ramon, Union City, schools in Foster City and Campbell, and in partnership with Tender Loving Childcare in San Jose with over 1,500 registrations.

Lekha publishes The Sassy Divas by Yalda Alexandra Saii and The Dragon Carousel by Novella Genelza.

Lekha educational programs expand to Cupertino, schools in Danville, Fremont, Gilroy, Half Moon Bay, Moraga, Santa Clara, and Walnut Creek with over 2,500 registrations.

Lekha educational programs expanded to Berkeley, Hayward, and Milpitas with over 3,000 registrations.

Lekha published Ruchira Khanna’s The Adventures of Alex and Angelo: The Mystery of the Missing Iguana, Gabrielle Begun’s Freddy the Penny, and Ghazal Sajeev’s Stuck in Space.

Lekha Writing Center had over 3,000 registrations for the year and consolidated our locations into regions: South Bay, East Bay and Peninsula.

Lekha came out with an award-winning writing app.