Welcome Amigos

My son attended Amigos for two grade levels. We did end up removing him in the spring of his second year. There were some beautiful, spirited teachers at the San Mateo location, and we missed Lupita and Ella dearly after leaving. However, the owner was repeatedly critical of my son because he could not sit quietly for 15 – 20 minutes at a time. She once called me out of work (I am a high school principal) to observe video she had taken (with my permission) of my son — he stood from the art table and held his work out to the teacher to see — but she didn’t like that he’d stood, nor that he’d finished 10 minutes before the other kids. The more the owner supervised the San Mateo location, the more miserable my son became. We were one of five families (of boys), we learned later, that were having problems with the owner.
We followed our gut, and moved to a fabulous alternative program. My son now LOVES art, is excelling at an Spanish-​immersion kindergarten, and we are happy. As an educator myself for 15 years, I should have noticed earlier that strategies being used weren’t appropriate to preschool (long amounts of sitting, direct instruction versus discovery, etc.).

My son is 4.5 years old and has had an amazing experience at Welcome Amigos! We had to switch pre-​schools mid-​year because our previous school closed and Elizabeth (Director) was so accommodating to our situation. My son is very shy and the transition was tough for him at first. Maestras Lilly, Edith and Elizabeth were wonderful at ensuring his transition was as smooth as possible and that the other children welcomed him with open arms. He very quickly became comfortable in his new environment, made great friends, and loves going to school every day. Our previous school was Spanish immersion too but my son wasn’t speaking much Spanish. I’ve been completely amazed at how quickly his Spanish has improved at Welcome Amigos and he now teaches me new words every day! I also love how inclusive the school is of the parents and the weekly email communications to keep us in the loop of all the fun the kids are having and what they are learning. I’m very sad that my son has graduated but we plan to continue sending him to WA camps and their after school program in the Fall. We’re also going to enroll our daughter when she is old enough. Welcome Amigos is a wonderful and loving program if you’re looking for a well-​rounded Spanish Immersion school.

Our son is in the Immersion Kindergarten program offered for the first time this year and we are thrilled. He had a nanny from 6 months to 5 years and she only spoke spanish to him so we were really excited that he could take Kindergarten in Spanish. He is doing great and beyond having a great understanding of the language when spoken to him — he now is speaking it more readily which is really fun to watch.
While academics are critical — perhaps even more impressive about Welcome Amigos is the amazing environment they provide for our children. The teachers are fantastic — they are caring and fun and always have fun learning activities that support good learning and friendship building. He loves school and continues to grow and develop his self-​confidence and independence. They emphasize excellent social skills of respect and kindness. It’s really a well-​rounded program. He is excited to get to school to see both his friends and his teachers. We are excited that he is learning important life skills and spanish skills in a safe and nurturing environment. Congrats to Elizabeth and the team at Welcome Amigos.

My daughter has been with Welcome Amigos for 2 years and we have been more than happy with with this school. The teachers, Maestra Lilly, Edith and Elizabeth are natural caregivers and educators which is completely evident in the way they interact and care for all the kids. Our daughter has developed socially and has made so many friends during her time there. She always looked forward to going to school and sharing exciting parts of her weekend with her teachers. She began at WA not knowing any spanish and she now sings songs only in spanish and can converse in spanish. For this schoolyear, WA began teaching name-​writing, letter writing and numbers so I was happy that my daugther now writes her name on all her artwork!
Everyday she comes home, she shows off all the artwork and projects she has done at school and continues to do them at home! Most of all, I love the weekly highlights that Program Director Elizabeth emails to all the parents. It summarizes the theme for the week and specifically details what the children will learn that week so we can focus or talk to our daughter about them. Overall, I highly recommend Welcome Amigos. We have an infant son and we hope to send him to WA one day.