Welcome Amigos

We enrolled our daughters in Welcome Amigos in the fall of 2015 at the age of 3.5. They had been in a daycare since they were 5 months old and we were concerned about the transition. After the first day, they couldn’t wait to go back. They run into the classroom each morning and speak fluently with the teachers (neither my husband nor I speak Spanish). I also hear them speaking to each other at home. I think what most impresses me about the school is not just that it is (clearly) teaching them to be confident in speaking another language, but it is also providing them with the foundation that they will need to start kindergarten. The teachers are extremely warm and friendly and interactive with the children and there are a variety of activities that they are engaged in. It is one of the few immersion schools that offer late after school care and whenever I show up, they are always doing some sort of guided activity. In addition to daily activities, they have people coming in to teach the kids music, soccer and about animals and have family activities such as field trips and pot lucks. I really love this school and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a warm caring environment where their child can learn and also pick up another language.

NOTE: This review is based on a tour and interaction with the director only. My child is not enrolled in the school.
From what I could tell, the facilities at Welcome Amigos seem great. A very clean, warm environment. I asked to visit late last fall, when they had apparently acquired the house next door and were trying to obtain licensing to open an additional classroom in the garage.
Maybe it’s because the new classroom situation was still unsettled that I found it very difficult to obtain any useful information from the director. She was extremely generous with her time with me on the phone, but when I visited, she acted a little exasperated with my child (who I was told could attend the tour but was understandably fidgety); sat me in her office and asked me what questions I had without giving me a tour of the home or the space next door that she was proposing would have a possible opening for my child; and was very vague when I asked her specific questions (e.g., would the new classroom be similar/​different to the other established classroom, would the kids be able to interact with each other or only with the kids in their own class, or would joining at that time mean my daughter would be in the «new class”/garage for the future years, etc. Her approximate response: «It’s impossible to tell the future. I of course have no idea and can’t make any guarantees.») She was also eager to hear what the prices were at another preschool I had told her I was visiting, which I shared but wondered why she wasn’t looking this up herself. (I have since learned that the price for Welcome Amigos next year has gone up.) I ended up peeking outside by myself after the tour just to get a flavor for the place.
All in all, the school may be great — passing the teachers on my way to the office they seemed warm, but the experience with the director left me feeling it would be difficult to address any concerns or questions I had and that they would not be very welcome.

Our son started at Welcome Amigos at the beginning of the school year — just as he turned 4 years old. With absolutely no experience in Spanish (and none in our home), after just 10 weeks at Welcome Amigos, he is already happily chatting and showing off his Spanish at home. I am amazed by how much vocabulary he has already picked up! The maestras (teachers) are kind and warm with the children. The School Director, Elizabeth, is accessible, communicative and involved.

My wife and I both struggled with learning foreign languages later in life, so we were motivated to expose our kids early… We started off sending our 3 year old two days a week. He understood a bit, but wasn’t speaking.
Elizabeth mentioned that he wouldn’t really speak until truly immersed.
The following year we pulled him out of his preschool and sent him 5 days per week. 6 months in, he was fluent.
Amazing.
The teachers are wonderful, caring people. The San Mateo location is clean and safe.
They have a curriculum that encourages creativity. Our son is constantly coming home with interesting arts & crafts.
100% recommended…

Whoohoo! As good as it gets… doesn’t even begin to explain the amazing experience of Welcome Amigos.
We came to Welcome Amigos after spending the previous year at a different immersion Spanish pre-​school. We changed after hearing rave reviews from a neighbor whose child had attended for the past 3 years and we just felt that our daughter hadn’t really progressed throughout the year in even the basics of general speaking and audio understand as we had hoped with the first school.
Within the first month at Welcome Amigos, our 4 year old was responding and requesting things to us at home in Spanish (we are not a Spanish speaking home) as naturally as she would respond in English. After almost 6 months into it — her confidence and fluency is unbelievable. Our child is an easy going kid — but her social and emotional development is a priority for us especially during these PreK years. I want to take parenting classes from the teachers at Welcome Amigos sometimes! I’m stunned continuously in how well they deal with helping the children handle confrontation, bullying, hurt feelings and overall «social kid» stuff that all kids goes through at this age and environment. They really teach the children how to respect, support and take responsibility for themselves and how they treat others. It is such a priority for them and they really pride themselves with this.
I work in Prek, kinder and 1^st grade classrooms all over the bay area and have never seen anything like what Welcome Amigos has put together at their school. Learning to count and read is one thing. Having a place where your child is having amazing mentors, role models and social guidance is INVALUABLE! This school should be the model for how teachers are taught to teach and mentor children, everywhere. Although we have a public Kindergarten Spanish Immersion school near our home, we’ve made the decision to enroll her into Welcome Amigos’ new kindergarten class beginning next year. There is no price I can pay for bringing my child everyday to a place that I know is going to be nurturing towards both her education and character.

It was evident on the tour how great this school would be for our kids and we are so happy to have enrolled them. Our kids are happy and excited to go to school every day — they love their friends, teachers and all the fun activities.
* Teachers are fantastic! Very engaged and personable.
* Facility at Hamlet is very organized, clean, colorful and homey.
* Curriculum is well structured + learning and art daily.
* Parent involvement and volunteering seems to be very good.
* Weekly highlights and Monthly Newsletter are very informative.
Lastly, they learn a second language — truly a special gift to our kids.

Very warm and highly experienced teachers. Excellent school! My daughter enjoyed the program very much.

We have had our son at WA for 18 months and have really been happy with his social development and exposure/​practice of the Spanish language. The teachers foster a loving environment and our son loves going to school each day which is a real blessing as a parent.
The environment is well structured and is a good balance of playtime and classroom learning appropriate for pre-​k students. They have quality toys and pleasant atmosphere. It is clean. They host nice events for family and go on field trips to fun places. We like how they teach good behavior, manners, and adherence to rules. Some very sweet women are teaching here. Our child has made nice friends and improved his Spanish a great deal… He enjoys the learning process, artwork and curriculum.
We would recommend WA to anyone who would like to establish a solid fluency level of Spanish for their young children!

Welcome Amigos is amazing — We have two kids who went through their program. They learned everything that they needed for kindergarten and they learned spanish at the same time. Neither my husband or I can speak spanish so we were thrilled at how much they were able to pick up in even just a year. The teachers are all very warm, supportive and loving. Just a great program overall. And what is great when they get to high school they can spend their time learning other subjects while everyone else is taking a language! Such a great find in our area!