ABOUT

Listos opened in the fall of 2015 as Rochester's first dual immersion early learning program. We are a local independent, nonprofit program that grew out of a grassroots effort to provide diverse, inclusive, high-quality bilingual education. In Spanish, Listos means both smart and ready. The curriculum and culture at Listos help prepare children for kindergarten and the world.

The program accommodates all children's language abilities. Children with little or no exposure to either Spanish or English outside of the classroom quickly adapt when immersed in the languages. Children at Listos experience art, math, science, music, literacy and movement in both Spanish and English.

The program strives to have a balance of children who speak different languages. That way children learn from their teachers and each other.

Peace United Church of Christ is the the fiscal sponsor for the program. Listos has its own board of directors and has no religious curriculum.

Tax deductible financial contributions help make our high-quality program accessible to all children.

Visit our Donate page for information.

Listos committment to equity

director@listoskids.org

Executive Director

Christina Valdez

director@listoskids.org

Christina is passionate about the benefits of language learning and making a positive impact on the lives of young children and their families. Her background includes a bachelors degree in communications and Spanish from the University of Minnesota and a Child Development Diploma from Rochester Community and Technical College. She studied abroad in Spain, Venezuela and Colombia.

She serves on the leadership table of Cradle2Career, the Olmsted County BRIDGE early childhood workgroup, and IMAA's Whole Family Systems core team. She also participated United Way of Olmsted County's Culturally Powered Communities initiative and served on the board of Families First of Minnesota for 6 years.

director@listoskids.org

Program Director

Viridiana Anguiano

programdirector@listoskids.org

Viri grew up in a bilingual family in El Paso, Texas with a love of learning both languages. She joined the Listos team in 2018 as a Spanish teacher and lead the School Age classroom in 2020 during distance and hybrid learning. She has a Bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at El Paso. As the program director she's grown the Butterfly Festival into a large scale community event and leads children and adults in deepening their knowledge around social and emotional regulation and anti bias initiatives.

VISION:

To strengthen an interconnected multicultural bilingual community surrounding children that thrives in all aspects of life.

MISSION:

Listos is a community partnered organization that provides accessible, equitable, and immersive early childhood education in both English and Spanish. We empower educators, families, and community members to embrace cultural differences and build connections that inspire lifelong knowledge, skills and relationships.

Partial-day

Serving ages 3 - 5 years
Several class options available
School year, September-May
Summer camps available

Full-day

Serving children ages 3 to 5 years
Hours 7 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Monday-Friday
Open year round

Listos Family Handbook

2024-2025 Calendar

2025-2026 Calendar

Listos teaching team

Dayanira Espinoza

Room1@ListosKids.org

Maestra Daya comes from a family of teachers in her home country of Nicaragua. She joined Listos in 2022.

Rosmery Malagon

teaching assistant

Rosmery joined the Listos team in 2016. Her child has since graduated from Listos. She grew up in Guatemala and is working on becoming a teacher.

Dulce Mendoza

Room2@listoskids.org

Maestra Dulce joined the Listos team in 2024. She has two children and a teaching degree from Mexico. She is passionate about education and sparking creativity.