Viva El Espanol

Viva el español is one of The best immersion programs I have gotten to experience. The magic of it is the consistency and support teachers get from the Viva team, which is then projected on how well the children learn Spanish. I am in love with this program and I wish it was in other states. We really need more programs like this in the United States! Go Viva!

This comment is based in their not-​for-​profit status more than anything else.
Up until recently they were taking donations on their website. However, I still don’t understand how they are able to be a tax-​exempt, not-​for profit organization when they clearly do provide help or service to those who can’t cover the cost of classes or camps.
They are a profitable business that charge more than average for the classes they offer, yet pay extremely low wages to their teachers who are mostly professionals from their native country and that help the organization succeed in providing great Spanish instruction.
Their summer camps and activities are extremely expensive and do not offer scholarships based on need or income level. Where do the surplus go? Obviously is not to those in need or its employees but rather the management and directors.
After talking to several people who have inquired about a reduction of fee based on income and several employees (past and current) I’m very disappointed by the nature of this organization. I wanted to review their 990 form to verify their organization and I wasn’t able to locate them as Viva el Español. Their EIN is not in their website and receptionist wasn’t able to provide it. Hence, I would encourage you to NEVER donate money to the Viva el Español. If you are taking your kids to classes here know that you are paying for a service just as you would as for profit business with the catch that they are not paying taxes and they are not helping others gain access to their services.
If you feel ok with the above, then enjoy the classes. They do hire good but extremely underpaid individuals. Also note that summer staff comes from few employees and many UNPAID interns. Go your research and know where your dollar goes and if comfortable take it with a grain of salt.

We’ve been with Viva on and off for 5 years, and we and our son have had a very good experience. We speak some Spanish with him at home, but he’s not in an immersion school and has never been in a position to spend most of his day in an immersive environment. We supplement with Viva even though we could teach him on our own so that he can meet other kids who speak Spanish and because he, like many kids, is sometimes more open to learning certain concepts when mom isn’t the teacher :)
Currently he’s in Saturday Spanish. Classes are activity-​focused and gamified, and our son always comes home with artwork he’s made, food he’s cooked, and prizes he’s won. He really looks forward to it and is disappointed during spring break, holiday weekends and other circumstances that cause Saturday class to be cancelled! Earlier, when he was 1 and 2, he was in Toddler Spanish (kind of a mommy and me type class) and, though the excellent teacher of that class has since left Viva, we loved that class as well.
With all that said, I have seen a fair number of new families try it and ultimately not stick with it. The families who are decisive about their kids learning Spanish, and have some sort of plan, tend to understand the teaching approach and are comfortable with it. I get the impression that a lot of parents like the idea of their child learning a second language, but they get cold feet when they realize that some of the kids in the class are pretty fluent already.
My only complaint is that I wish they had more classes to fit a working parent’s schedule. Saturday Spanish works for our older child, but we have no opportunity for our 2-​year-​old to take a class there because all the mommy and me classes are on weekday mornings.

I signed my 6yo and 7yo up for a one-​week immersion camp at Viva El Espanol. The camp was supposed to accommodate children of any level, but it did not. My 7yo especially experienced some anxiety when she arrived, because her prior knowledge of spanish is basically colors and numbers, and because it was very loud. (In addition to any other problems, it was a pretty small space for the number of children.) They kept hushing us and moving us out of the way of the rest of the class. They had a lot of staff, (although several looked like HS students), but no one tried to help us. At some point, I asked the instructor if it was okay if I stayed that day, and she said it was. I didn’t want to just quit. Eventually, one of the high schoolers asked if we wanted to play some puzzles or games in the other room, and my daughter mostly calmed down. However, this staff did not actually try to play in Spanish. I took the initiative to engage my daughters with the dominoes, doing numbers, even though any competency I have in Spanish mostly stems from my HS French. So I would ask the staff person questions and she answered, but didn’t seem to know the words for «plus» or «times» etc., and wasn’t trying to engage them herself. Eventually some of the higher ranking staff came out (we had probably been there an hour by now) to «strategize about how to transition my daughters into staying.» They said, «This is a drop off camp, you can’t stay.» I said, «I know, I had intended to drop off, but we didn’t receive any support when we arrived. I asked the instructor, and she said it was okay for me to stay, and I already promised my daughters I would stay.» They would not allow me to stay, so we left. At one point, they said that I should have warned them in advance that I was bringing a «difficult» child. Just astounded at the unprofessionalism of the entire experience. Epic fail.