About De Colores
Mission Statement
At De Colores Spanish Immersion Montessori, our mission is to inspire love of self, love of others, and love of learning across our community of children, staff and families.
We use the Spanish Immersion Language Model, the Montessori Method, and Anti-bias Antiracist (ABAR) goals to center children’s autonomy and joy. Our books, lessons and materials purposefully uplift human diversity and create opportunities for continued learning and relearning.
About the Spanish
Immersion Language
Model
About the Spanish Immersion Language Model
De Colores Spanish Immersion Montessori has used the Spanish Immersion Language Model since we opened our doors in 2007.
This means that all of our staff speak Spanish 100% of the time with your children.
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All books, songs, lessons and conversations are in
Spanish. - All of our staff are native Spanish speakers.
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Children who graduate from De Colores Montessori
are able to hold conversations in Spanish and have
a wide-ranging Spanish vocabulary.
- All books, songs, lessons and conversations are in Spanish.
- All of our staff are also native Spanish speakers.
- Children who graduate from De Colores Montessori are able to hold conversations in Spanish and have a wide-ranging vocabulary.
Our Story
The De Colores Spanish Immersion Montessori arose out of our founder’s need as a new mother to find an early education setting that was stimulating, nurturing, and safe for her daughter. While there are many such places in Washington DC, as a Hispanic mother in a Spanish speaking household, Florencia del Villar found it difficult to find quality child care in a Spanish immersion setting.
For this reason, she decided to leave her job as an art teacher at a bilingual school here in Washington DC, and begin a program where a child receives care, nurturing, stimulation, and affection in a Spanish immersion setting.
Immersion Program
In 2007 the De Colores Spanish Immersion Program opened its doors. While we have grown in size, our goals have remained the same:
To make De Colores the most nurturing environment for young children.
To partner with our parent community as guides for the development of their children.
To support our community of teachers to grow professionally and have the space to do what they love: observe, design their environments and offer guidance to the children in their communities.
De Colores Spanish Immersion Montessori
In 2019, as a culmination of years of ongoing Montessori-specific professional development, mentoring and classroom implementation of the Montessori method, all of our Lead guides and our founder obtained their Montessori certification.
The sustained effort and dedication required in achieving this goal is proudly reflected in the fact that De Colores is now De Colores Spanish Immersion Montessori.