Just a few months into a new Spanish immersion program in the Early Learning Center, 4-year-old Emma has developed an accent in the language and is having an easier time understanding movies she watches in Spanish. Emma speaks French at home, said her father Thomas.

"They pick it up so fast," said Thomas, noting that what really impresses him is not just the range of her vocabulary but the pronunciation. He hopes Emma can continue into Spanish immersion when she enrolls in kindergarten in the Menlo Park City School District.

Emma is one of the preschoolers enrolled in the Early Learning Center's new Spanish immersion classroom, Colibrís, which means hummingbirds in Spanish, at Lower Laurel School in Atherton.

The program came about because families expressed interest in a Spanish immersion program, said Early Learning Center Director Chana Stewart. The majority of the curriculum and daily routines are conducted in Spanish by native Spanish-speaking teachers.

The students, ages 3 to 5, learn about different Spanish-speaking cultures and the class is a mix of native speakers and language learners. The school strives to enroll a balance of Spanish-speaking children and children who don't yet speak Spanish. There is a lead teacher and an aide for the 16 children.

When they're ready to start kindergarten, Colibrís students can enter the lottery to attend the Spanish immersion programs at Laurel and Encinal schools in the district.

There are three Early Learning Center (ELC) classrooms at Laurel School and two at Oak Knoll School. The program was recently recognized with a California School Boards Association Golden Bell Award, which recognizes outstanding programs in public education. The ELC was the only early learning program so recognized in the state, according to the district.

Lead teacher Cecy Cruz, who has worked at ELC since 2019, previously worked in the Ravenswood School District and The Institute of Human and Social Development.

Since Spanish is her first language, she feels very comfortable in the classroom, she said.

More information about the program is at ELC's website. Applications are open for the 2023-24 school year. Children must be 3 years old by Sept. 1, 2023 and fully potty-trained by the first day of school.