MARYSVILLE — Songs in Spanish sung by preschoolers may soon fill the Ken Baxter Community Center.
That’s because starting in February the North Bend based Spanish Academy plans to offer a Spanish language-immersion preschool at the cent
er. Classes are intended to give children a head start in learning a second language.
“We will be starting out small and seeing how it grows,” said Maryke Burgess, coordinator of the Ken Baxter Community Center. “I don’t know of anything like it in the area, we’re really excited to be able to offer it.”
The Spanish Academy is based out of North Bend and has sites in Bellevue, Issaquah, North Bend and Woodinville.
Burgess said she was shopping in Woodinville last August when she saw a sign for the Spanish Academy. She called Kimberly Houde, the director of the school, to ask about bringing her business to Marysville.
Houde, who lives in North Bend, founded the Spanish Academy in 2000 after looking for a preschool for her daughter. The West Seattle High School graduate learned how to speak Spanish as an exchange student in 1981 in Argentina. She liked Burgess’ enthusiasm for bringing the school to Marysville and decided to hold the Spanish Academy’s first classes in Snohomish County.
The Marysville classes will be led by a Spanish Academy teacher and be structured differently than the school’s other sites. Classes will be shorter and held once or twice a week instead of every day, Houde said.
“This is the first time we’re going into a community center offering a program tailored to meet the style and organization of a community center,” said Houde, 47. “If it’s successful we may expand to other community centers.”
The preschool classes will be taught primarily in Spanish with many activities and songs.
Children ages 3 to 5 years old who are potty trained can be part of the program. Sessions are scheduled from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and are set to begin on Feb. 2. Parents can choose to enroll their children in the preschool for one day per week on either Wednesday or Friday, or both days. The cost for once a week is $139 per month and the cost for twice a week is $264 per month.
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.
Spanish Academy
For more information or to register your child for Spanish Academy classes at the Ken Baxter Community Center call 360-363-8450 or download the Marysville Parks and Recreation Activities Guide at www.marysvillewa.gov. For more information about the Spanish Academy go to www.spanishacademy.org.
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