Our teachers engage with children exclusively in Spanish. Children adapt to understand the Spanish language, then speak it. They learn through songs, visuals and experiences all day. Children grow through several levels of language acquisition, the ultimate goal being fluency.
We encourage families to incorporate Spanish at home whenever possible, but it’s not essential. Children will naturally acquire Spanish through immersion. We make a list of songs, books and resources available for you to use at home for extra support.
Our primary differentiator is an emphasis on utilizing children’s genuine interests, creativity, self-expression and critical thinking to achieve a high level of academics and kindergarten preparedness. Beyond teaching in Spanish, we follow robust academic standards, goals and assessments to measure growth and ensure children are exactly where they need to be (if not further) upon graduation. Our methodology provides a high level of observation and documentation with the goals of truly listening to the children and using their curiosities to achieve those high academic goals.
We provide a whole day program in which the afternoon is just as rich as the morning, with learning occurring at all hours through meaningful exploration and workshops from chess to technology to robotics.
Our mixed Reggio-Emilia and Montessori pedagogies emphasize the importance of children as guides of their own, constantly engaging in open-ended experiences that lead to developing critical thinking skills.
Kindergarten readiness skills such as literacy and math are “transferable”, meaning they easily transition into reading, writing and arithmetic skills in both English and Spanish. Additionally, neural pathways of thinking and problem solving apply to all languages. In short, your child won’t have any issue transitioning into an English-language environment and may in fact be more adept at adaptation to different school settings.
Spanish is a rich and diverse language with speakers from all over the world. We respect all accents and dialects of Spanish. Our school is a good representation of the world’s variety in the Spanish language.
Our child-directed approach is similar to what you’d see in a Montessori and Reggio-Emilia school. We’ve taken what we feel is best from each pedagogy, focusing most on the idea that children are capable drivers of their own learning when supported by nurturing adults and a thoughtfully planned environment.
Parents, teachers and students are only successful when there is open communication and support among all parties. To educate a young child requires a true partnership among us all. We always welcome parent involvement at all levels.
In order to protect all children, we are a nut-free school. No peanuts or tree nuts are allowed on campus. If your child has a specific food allergy, we may eliminate that food from the classroom (other children’s snacks, lunches) to keep him or her safe.
Weather permitting, children are outside at least 30 minutes every three hours in addition to academic exploration outside, the core of our program.
Our student-teacher ratios are based on state guidelines. For two-year-olds, the ratio is 1-8, and beyond that age, the ratio is 1-10. Depending on enrollment numbers, we staff all classes with at least two full time teachers. In addition, our Academic Director floats between classrooms, serving as an additional teacher and mentor to students and teachers alike.
As part of the OHL team, all teachers are committed to excellence and growth. We provide an ongoing training, mentoring and assessment program to help our team reach their goals for the classroom and beyond. An atmosphere of professional collaboration and growth gives our educators the tools and support they need on a daily basis.
No. Children can enroll any time after their second birthday. Children must be potty-trained without diapers or pull-ups to enter our 4-year-old and older classrooms.
We will hold parent-teacher conferences twice a year tied to assessments that each child will take based on their age group to measure their growth and progress based on specific goals and objectives. Between conferences, you can expect regular communication from teachers with regard to progress and growth.
Facebook
Instagram