Academia Mi Abuela experiences
Hello community, We've been looking at Spanish immersion preschools for our 3 year old for some time now and are considering Academia Mi Abuela. Many of the reviews on Berkeley Parent Network are older. Does anyone have any current experience they could share with us? We would appreciate it. Specifically: How is safety considering how close they are to Mountain Blvd? Development per age group? We noticed they have a mix of smaller and older toddlers in one class.How much Spanish did your child learn? Our kid understands a lot of the language because I have been speaking to him in Spanish since he was born, but he doesn't speak it as much. I am originally from Mexico and would love for him to learn the language and culture. Thank you!
Apr 16, 2022
Parent Replies
My daughter attends the elementary school directly upstairs from Mi Abuela (Pear Tree) so I can speak to your concerns about safety on Mountain Blvd., because I definitely had them too. One nice thing I've noticed about Mi Abuela is that there are always a few teachers standing directly in front of and behind the outside gate helping kids transition in and out safely, and keeping handle on traffic pulling in and out of the driveway. Their management of the front gate is stellar and they are always so warm and friendly with the kids and parents. It's great to see! The tiny share parking lot is a challenge, it fills up quickly and you have to spend a lot of time waiting to get in and out. The parents using the driveway are always very careful, so I've never had any issues walking my kids through the parking lot.
I don't park in the lot because it's usually full, I park on Mountain Blvd. across the street from the school. It's kind of a hassle. So many people speed down that street and the sidewalks on that side we park on are so narrow we have to walk single file. We have to cross the street at the intersection of Mountain and Snake Road, and some drivers making that left turn off Snake are paying zero attention to the crosswalk, so I have to be on guard at all times. We've had some people not stop until I started waving my hands, it's terrible. We're managing, but I do wish traffic safety in that neighborhood was better, I won't sugarcoat it.