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FAQ: Building a Weekend School for Spanish

Rey Rodriguez couldn't find a quality Spanish-language school for his sons, so he teamed up with like-minded parents in Pasadena who had already founded their own, as a Sunday language school.

By Rey M. Rodríguez

What drove a group of parents to start a Spanish language heritage school in Los Angeles, where so many speak Spanish as a first language?

Each parent had a different reason, but all were Spanish speakers who realized that their children were naturally gravitating to English. It wasn't enough for parents to speak to their children in Spanish at home; many needed a community to make the language relevant. The families sought out schools and discovered that none  existed. So a group of teachers, scientists, lawyers, and others decided to create their own school. This was back in 2003.

What did you do first?

Well, I didn't join the group until 2007, when the school was held on Sundays on the floor of a public library in Pasadena. Now, the classes are held, still on Sunday, in a public school thanks to a visionary principal, Rich Boccia, who valued what we were trying to accomplish.

Then how did you and other parents make it a better school?

Let me just say that when I attended the class in the library for the first time, I thought, finally I've found a place for my children to experience this language in a fun and meaningful way. It was magical.

But what we did as parents was throw ourselves into formalizing the group a bit. Two parents worked on developing a curriculum, while others prepared a strategic plan and participated in seeking out funding. One parent took on the challenge of incorporating the school as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. This was an important step so that the school could operate more effectively. For instance, we needed nonprofit status to obtain general liability insurance, which the principal required for us to use school property. We also increased tuition to make sure we were paying our teachers adequately for their time.

Do you need to be a lawyer to prepare 501(c)(3) documents?

No, but it takes some time to get the IRS to act.

What else did you need?

We were fortunate that the principal of the public school was open to our use of his middle school.

How do kids get into your school, now that it's up and running?

Most join because of word of mouth. Once they visit the school, a teacher will evaluate the child to make sure that they have sufficient background to function in a fully immersive Spanish-language environment.

What if my family speaks only English at home, but we'd like to teach one of our kids Spanish?

I think that is wonderful, but our school is likely not the appropriate place. The school meets for such a short time, and the needs of heritage language learners are distinct from monolingual learners who are studying Spanish as a second language.

What kind of classes does your school offer? Do you teach anything besides language, or along with language?

The Educa Group teaches two age groups: toddlers, who learn vocabulary, nursery rhymes, games, storytelling and crafts; and pre-schoolers and kinders, who are in a pre-literacy program learning reading and writing through games, songs, and crafts. In the future we intend to teach elementary school levels with Spanish composition, grammar, and reading.

What other challenges did you face while setting up?

Finding qualified teachers. We have extremely high standards and rejected several applicants who were native speakers.

The other challenge is funding. Most corporate givers and foundations are interested in promoting programs that promote English.

Are the teachers responsible for the whole curriculum?

Yes. Both create their own materials. One even creates flash cards by drawing faces to teach expressions. She discovered that it was difficult to find books locally in Spanish that were as varied or attractive as children’s books in English. As a result, she had to visit libraries to select just the right materials so that the children would always have a positive impression of everything that relates to Spanish.

What do you say to someone who thinks all of this sounds like a lot of trouble, and would take years to get going?

They are probably right! But the alternative is more of the same and I can't really live with that option. Most other countries, both developed and developing, place a premium on speaking more than one language. So, we do what we can to develop a high quality program where Spanish is celebrated. I hope others agree to do the same.

For more about the Educa Group, please visit the website at http://theeducagroup.cfsites.org/index.php.

Rey Rodríguez is vice president of Business & Legal Affairs for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Distribution International. All opinions expressed in this article are solely his own.

Date Posted: 10/2/2008