Su Escuela Teaches Hingham Students to be Bilingual

Hingham’s newest academy is designed to teach children to be bilingual.

Su Escuela Academy, which opened in Hingham in July on Sgt. William Terry Drive is a Spanish language Academy that offers programs starting at age 15 months.

They teach pre-k, Kindergarten, secondary school, after school, and art courses all in Spanish and offer enrolling admission so your child can hop on board anytime throughout the year.

Su Escuela’s immersion programs are designed to ensure literacy and higher academic achievement and guarantee your child will adapt to the Spanish language.

To ensure students will learn the Spanish language, the majority of the classes are taught at a Student/Teacher ratio of 9:2. All of the programs are full immersion. Kindergarten is the only exception as this is 80 percent Spanish and 20 percent English.

Sandra Pasten Baldeon, founder and director of Su Escuela said the classes expose children to another language and culture while they are young enough to absorb it easily.

“Most of the schools offer (Spanish) too late,” said Baldeon.  “Here, when you go in that class, they are fluent.”

If you walk through a Su Escuela classroom door on a weekday morning, children, ages 4 and 5, are speaking full sentences in Spanish, asking questions in Spanish, and are engaged in children’s stories like Jack and the Bean Stalk which are told all in Spanish by the Academy’s teachers.

“It’s important to them to learn 21st century skills,” said Heather McDonnell, Assistant Director of Su Escuela. “Being more exposed to other cultures at an early age is important.”

According to McDonnell, the school’s Kindergarten classes are very popular among South Shore parents and the classes enroll mostly Hingham students along with students from neighboring towns. The Dual Immersion full day Kindergarten classes are taught Monday to Friday with classes limited to 12 students.

“Parents are so excited that this is an option for their children,” McDonnell said.

Su Escuela is constantly receiving positive feedback from parents who have said there child has excelled in  Public School classrooms because of the curriculum they learned in  Su Escuela’s bilingual program.

"I love the school," said Danielle Van Ess, a Hingham mother.

Besides Spanish, the Hingham’s Su Escuela also offers students classes in Mandarin.

For more information about Su Escuela Academy, please visit them in Hingham at 75 Sgt. William Terry Drive off of Route 3A, or visit their website: http://www.suescuela.com/