SI School – Spanish Immersion

My daughter attended Si School this past summer, from age 15 months to 16 months, when we moved to New York. I cannot recommend Giovanna and her staff more highly, and the other kids and parents I met were also lovely. My daughter always had a wonderful time — she never cried at drop-​off and was always happy when I picked her up (and every time I picked her up, she was being attended to, as she was the youngest child there). She picked up a bit of language and thrived with the structure and curriculum. I wish so much we could have kept her in the program. I trusted them completely and they made such a positive impact on our family.

I feel so fortunate that my son was able to attend Si School — Spanish Immersion. He was a student there for one year — from age 1 ½ to 2 ½. My husband and I had looked at a lot of other local daycares and none of them felt right for us — it was important to us that our child not only be well cared for but also that he be intellectually engaged and encouraged to grow. Giovanna (the owner) and the other teachers at Si School have created a really warm environment where young kids can develop all kinds of skills — language skills (our son’s ability to speak English and Spanish really took off while he was at Si School), physical skills (they do daily outdoor activities in the large backyard and on trips to the park), art skills (they did so many amazing art projects — drawing, painting, stamps, instrument making), social skills (kids play and talk with one another and the other teachers, and work on expressing feelings, taking turns and being a part of a caring group) and general life/​world knowledge (he learned about shapes, numbers, months, days of the week, animals, cooking, art — they even took a field trip to the Legion of Honor! — and many, many, many other things).
Kids at Si School get lots of attention because the teacher child ratio is around 1:3. Teachers really get to know the kids and the kids also really get to know one another — there are only about ten/​twelve kids there each day. The families that go to the school are all incredibly sweet and down to earth. My husband and I enjoyed getting to know them at birthday parties and during drop off/​pick ups. With heavy hearts, we left Si School last month because our son got into one of the premier preschools in SF. We contemplated not accepting the preschool offer (which included generous financial aid) because the Si School was really a great situation for him. He was already thriving so why make the change? Ultimately we decided to go ahead and attend the larger school. I am so grateful to Giovanna and the teachers at Si School-​Spanish Immersion — because of his experience there, he’s started his new preschool with a lot of confidence and a surplus of skills. He’s markedly advanced in terms of language and social skills, and a lot of that is due to his experience at Si School. The preschool he’s attending has a lot to live up to. Si School is truly a tough act to follow.

Giovanna and her team of teachers have created a warm and nurturing environment for the kids to thrive in. We appreciated the effort they put into taking the kids outdoors every day and designing a curriculum that engaged the kids on multiple levels. All this is carried out in a bilingual environment that is playful and intuitive to the kids. I would definitely recommend this preschool.