Filling a needed niche for families seeking a space for comprehensive bilingual early education, Philadelphia’s first Spanish immersion preschool is set to open January 2015.

The preschool aims to develop children into multicultural students with a staff of mostly native Spanish speakers with strong backgrounds in early childhood education. The school will teach through an all-Spanish curriculum that encourages learning through play, literacy, and math development.

Currently it will serve students 18 months to 4 years old. The project seeks to support  total Spanish immersion that will allow a child to optimize his or her language learning potential.

“Research shows that students who study a second language score higher on average than their monolingual peers. Bilingualism can also benefit in the workplace. Research shows that bilingual workers earn, on average between 5 percent and 20 percent more than their monolingual counterparts,” states the school in its website.

The program also highlights the proven immediate cognitive advantages of multilingualism to help kids’ brains to work more efficiently. “For some families, it helps keep cultural and ethnic heritage alive; others are drawn to the promise of personal and professional opportunities in the future,” stated the educational institution.

‘Mi Casita Preschool’ was founded by Melissa Page, a former high school language teacher with a lifelong passion for Spanish language education. The school will be located at 1415 Fairmount Ave.

The 4600-square-foot location will be in a brand new building and will include a kitchen, library, and a variety of rooms for learning and playing. The location offers proximity to Clemente Park and Playground, Spring Garden Community Gardens, and Francisville Playground as well as very easy access to public transportation.

Page began speaking Spanish in Kindergarten and worked for five years as a Spanish and French teacher at GAMP High School (Girard Academic Music Program) in South Philadelphia.

Enrollment information for rolling admission beginning in 2015 is available at www.micasitaphilly.com.