Los Amiguitos, Immersion, Nature and Community School

"Our son has loved his two years at Los Amiguitos. It has been a fantastic environment for him. He thoroughly enjoys spending so much time outdoors and immersing himself in the different themes they explore throughout the year. It's amazing to witness his deep engagement with these various topics. His knowledge and passion for nature have truly flourished; he has become a bird watcher and can enthusiastically share the birds his classmates presented along with all the related facts they shared :). There is a strong sense of community among all the families. We have thoroughly enjoyed the community gatherings and the family camping trips. Additionally, dropping him off and picking him up from school has been a delightful experience. Lila has done a remarkable job in creating such a nurturing environment. We are truly grateful for her, Natalia, Gabriela, Andrea and all the other teachers."

"Both of our kids went here -- it's a really special community! So grateful to have found this gem."

"This is an ideal preschool environment! Our child is learning, loving nature, speaking Spanish, and making friends. We love it here."

"After her first year at Los Amiguitos our daughter has began to not only show signs of academic skills in numbers and reading, she has also been awakened to the wonders of nature and all that it has to teach us. This is such a unique benefit of a nature immersion school. Her Spanish was pretty good when she started and now she is so fluent, she gets complimented every time we are traveling in Latin America on her vocabulary and grammar. The teachers are patient and kind and fun and the community is one that we are so proud to be a part of."

"[Spanish below] Los Amiguitos has been such a beautiful community for our family, and our child is thriving there! We love the director and the teachers. They are all so nurturing and attuned to the children, and they make learning and exploration so fun for them. As parents we also feel cared for in that space. We appreciate all the details that make it feel like a community: opportunities to join on camping trips and nature hikes before even starting school, the parent group chat that the director set up so that we could arrange playdates ahead of time and get to know each other, the opportunities to volunteer at the school so that the children feel invested in their space, the community gatherings and potlucks we do every season, and more. We align with the educational philosophies: nature-immersion (the children spend almost the entire morning outdoors), Spanish-immersion (the teachers only communicate in Spanish with the students, unless the student has a "big emotion", in which case they will switch to English (if that is their native language). The teachers draw from their experience to offer planned curriculum, but they are flexible enough to deviate if that is what the energy of the day is calling for. For example, perhaps the teacher had a different idea for the day, but then the class sees an owl in the woods: then, they may do a whole lesson plan on owls, to be responsive to the environment and in-tune with the natural seasonal shifts. We love that. Our child has learned so much in the time he has been there, and has developed intellectually, socially and emotionally. We really cannot say enough good things about this school! Los Amiguitos has been such a beautiful community for our family, and our son is thriving there! We love the principal and the teachers. They are all very loving and in tune with the children, and make learning and exploration so much fun for them. As parents we also feel cared for in that space. We appreciated all the details that make it feel like a community: opportunities to join camping trips and nature walks before school even started, the parent group chat the principal set up so we could set up play dates in advance, and getting to know each other, the opportunities to volunteer at school so that children feel involved in their space, the community meetings and potlucks we do each season, and more. We align ourselves with the educational philosophies: nature-immersion (children spend almost the entire morning outdoors), Spanish-immersion (teachers only communicate in Spanish with students, unless the student has a "great emotion", in which case switch to English (if that is your native language). Teachers draw on their experience to deliver a planned curriculum, but are flexible enough to deviate if that is what the energy of the day requires. For example, Maybe the teacher has a different idea for the day, but then the class sees an owl in the woods: They can then make a whole lesson plan about owls, to respond to the environment and be in tune with natural seasonal changes. Our son has learned a lot in his time there and has developed intellectually, socially and emotionally - we really can't say enough good things about this school!"