Lena Sisson
Lingua Natal Founder & Principal
Welcome to our Lingua Natal family of schools. Our mission began in San Diego, California back in 1993 and that mission has never changed. “Provide children with the opportunity to expand their world in the 21st century and provide an engaging, vigorous, and yet gentle and loving environment conducive to the development of happy, healthy minds and hearts and inspiring a new generation dedicated to the betterment of the world and the bringing about of cooperation and friendship among its people.”
We have remained true to our purpose throughout more than twenty-three years of operation and will continue to strive to educate children who will be able to communicate “heart-to-heart” in our own multi-cultural, multi-ethnical community of the U.S. as well as the world community of tomorrow.
America will depend upon these future ambassadors of goodwill and it will remain our goal to prepare creative, healthy, bright, and productive individuals who are capable of interpersonal, inter-social, and inter-cultural exchanges that will result in positive growth in our communities and also in the world community at large.
With warm regards,
Lena Sisson
Lingua Natal Founder & Principal
[principal-quotes]
“Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment.” – Dr. Maria Montessori
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KidSchool (Lingua Natal) Fall Expansion Opening In Bonita, CA (1994)
Fall Expansion 1994
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Preschooler Watching A 'Volcano' Erupt (1994)
Erupting Volcano 1994
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Fall Spanish Pre-K Students In Bonita, CA (1994)
Fall Spanish 1994
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KidSchool (Lingua Natal) Hosted An International Cultural Festival In Bonita, CA (1995)
Cultural Festival 1995
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Our First Preschoolers (1993)
First Preschoolers 1993
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A Student Presentation Of 'Our Community' (1994)
Presentation 1994
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Parent/Child Participation (1993)
Baby Garden 1993
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Discovering Bugs (1993)
Bugs 1993
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Community Performance (1993)
Community 1993
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Group Class (1994)
Director & Founder 1994
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Music Class (1993)
Music Class 1993
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Toddler At Art Table (2011)
Art Table 2011
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Creative Project (1993)
Art Table 1993
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Toddlers At Art Table (2011)
Art Table 2011
June 1993
KidSchool was born. KidSchool rented 500 square feet on Bonita Rd. Lena taught French and Spanish to preschoolers 3 to 5. Lena also started an English Summer Camp for youth Spanish speakers on vacation in San Diego that lasted through 2000. Many youth specifically came to San Diego to participate in our English Summer Camp. We taught youth between the ages of 8 and 16.
September 1993
Lena started after school language programs in Spanish and French for 5 -7 years.
November 1993
KidSchool preschool program was featured on the Channel 10 evening news with interviews.
January 1994
KidSchool moved to a 2,000 square feet location.
1994-1996
German was taught to children ages 5-7 and 8-12.
1995-2000
KidSchool took its English as a second language program to Tijuana and taught children in a Montessori Nursery school.
Summer 1997
KidSchool purchased a property in old Bonita and in the summer of 1997 opened its multi-lingual International School. Preschoolers received Spanish and Pre-K students had the option of just Spanish or French and Spanish.
1996-2000
Italian was taught to children ages 5-7 and 8-12. It was the third language that was picked by the majority of our children who had grown up with Spanish and then had added French to their curriculum.
1996-1998
Japanese was taught at KidSchool.
1996-2000
The District of Coronado invited KidSchool to take its Spanish program to their schools.
1996-2000
KidSchool brought French to La Costa Meadows Elementary in San Marcos, California.
1996-1998
Children’s School in La Jolla hosted KidSchool programs for the community on its site.
1998-2000
KidSchool ran its own center in downtown La Jolla and started teaching children as young as two years. This was the birth of our Doves Program.
June 2000
KidSchool held its summer camp in French and Spanish in Solana Beach – Solana Beach Presbytarian Church hosted the program for the community.
September 2000
KidSchool opened its doors in Solana Beach and closed all its programs south of Solana Beach due to the owner’s health reasons.
September 2002
KidSchool expanded its facility to a 2,500 square feet in Solana Beach.
2001-2010
KidSchool was invited to teach its programs at the site of two schools in Solana Beach District.
2002-Present
KidSchool was invited to teach its programs at the site of the Encinitas Union School District Schools.
2003-2009
KidSchool taught its programs at the site of two schools in Del Mar School District.
2007-2008
KidSchool was invited to participate in a Pilot bilingual program for the kindergarteners at the site of Encinitas Heights.
2008
KidSchool name was changed to Lingua Natal.
2010-2011
Lingua Natal was invited to participate in a Pilot language program at Ocean Knolls Elementary.
Summer 2013
Lingua Natal hosted a large Summer Camp in Spanish and French in Encinitas.
2013-2016
Origin Consulting (Lena) helped shape the curriculum of a bilingual preschool that started in Three Rivers California as well as training a teacher in Paris to teach English to toddlers and preschoolers.
2012-2014
Lingua Natal brought its programs to Encinitas and taught its preschool program and programs for 5-7 and 8-12 years at the site of various schools/children’s programs.
June 2014
Lingua Natal opened its doors at 1104 Garden View Rd, Encinitas.
April 2016
Lingua Natal franchises.
December 2016
Lingua Natal Schools, a nonprofit, public Charity is born; its mission is to create the opportunity for children of all backgrounds and economic status to be immersed in Lingua Natal multi-lingual holistic curricula.
December 2018
Lingua Natal International School starts (Nursery through 6th grade).