Hidden Gems: Meet Natalie Standridge of Casa de Corazón

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Standridge. Natalie and her team share their story with us below:

Natalie has been working in the field of Early Childhood education since 1999 and began her now multi-location program in 2002. Prior to her work experience she graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota receiving a bachelor’s degree in Family Social Science, a minor in Spanish, and an area of emphasis in cultural youth studies. Natalie’s interest in young children has been forming since she was one of them! As she grew up, her parents taught Lamaze and Infant Massage classes, led La Leche Leagues, and fostered pre-adoptive newborns. Natalie had heard more birth stories, taken more first aid training, and cared for more babies by the age of 16 than most people do in a lifetime.

But her inspiration to create something unique to the field of early education came when she needed child care for her own first born. After searching extensively, she couldn’t find anyone providing high quality, dual language child care. There were no Spanish immersion schools at the birth to 5 level in Minnesota. In fact, the popular belief at that time was that bilingual children suffered delayed brain development. The research that has emerged since then has changed everything. Now we know that bilingual brains are actually more healthy, complex, and actively engaged, and have higher levels of executive function. We also know that the brains of children under the age of five have more plasticity to process language using both hemispheres, and therefore their language learning includes more social and emotional processing in addition to the analytical processing that adult second-language learners use.

So Natalie created the program that today is Casa de Corazón. Casa is more than just a language program. It is a unique child care model focused on environmental consciousness, a caring approach to teaching, and intercultural learning. From making healthy food in-house to providing cloth diapering, Casa has incorporated social, environmental, and health priorities into a Spanish Immersion curriculum, providing a well-rounded option for the first education of each child.

With the demand for bilingual people exploding in the workforce in our increasingly bilingual society, the need for bilingual early education is increasing at a much faster rate than schools are opening. Natalie has seen this demand continue to increase over the years. As the pioneer in the industry, Casa de Corazón has started franchising to other markets in the United States to fulfill the high demand of our brand and services.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The staff shortages have been an issue throughout the pandemic. As we are an essential business, our staff are frontline workers. The position of teaching at Casa can be viewed as risky during the pandemic as we are in close interaction with other staff and children frequently. We have put into place many different protocols and precautions to mitigate this risk, following recommendations from the state and health authorities. Additionally, to remain competitive in our industry, we have made significant changes to increase the benefits and wages to our teachers.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Casa de Corazón provides quality Spanish immersion child care that families turn to for their children’s first educational experiences. We provide safe, encouraging, and educational child care services that parents trust to engage their children while they are at work. Through Spanish immersion curriculum, sustainable practices, and an emphasis on social responsibility, we prepare children for their future endeavors both inside and outside scholastic settings.

The interaction of different cultures is at the heart of what we do at Casa de Corazón. We were born as an intercultural program, and over time have built an amazing family. Many of Casa’s teachers come from one of the twenty countries whose official language is Spanish. We focus on a Country of the Month where we celebrate these countries and our staff who call these countries home. Each teacher brings a background filled with cultural traditions, celebrations, arts, and cuisines to share with the children through curriculum and a celebration of diversity.

We are the leaders in bringing innovation and progress to the Spanish Immersion early childhood education industry. We are always looking for new, innovative ways to improve the program, curriculum, and environment to better fit the needs of our families and staff.

Every year we launch an average of five breakthrough ideas in line with our values, with the goal of positively impacting the lives of every member of our Casa family. From the growth of Casa Franchising to the international impact of our 1K For Kids, we continue to revolutionize our industry.

Our sister organization, Corazoncitos, offers a selection of professional development training for Casa de Corazón employees. Training classes are offered at a low cost and once the class is completed, the cost is eligible for reimbursement. We have 3 of the highest-qualified bilingual trainers in the state of MN on our Headquarters team, training our teachers in CPR, First Aid, CDA credentials, and child development. From Promoting Social and Emotional Development to the Principles Of Child Development And Learning, we offer a wide array of classes as part of our Corazoncitos Training to expand the knowledge and professionalism of our staff.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We have many different ways that people or companies can work with us, collaborate with us, and support us. The main vehicles for these collaborations are through community partnerships, international collaborations, and through franchise growth.

We partner with socially responsible community organizations like Seward Co-op and Target, working to create the best possible environment for our little learners. From organic, locally sourced food to the annual Trike-a-thon for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, we work to create experiences that teach kindness, inclusion, and acceptance.

We create an international impact by collaborating with people and companies from all over North, Central, and South America. We are grateful for the wonderful connections we have made. These collaborators allow Casa to provide innovation, culture, and creativity. It is an honor to work with these incredibly talented individuals.

The rapid evolution of the childcare industry encourages us to always be open to growth in both quality and quantity. Our constant reinvention helps us make the franchise business model we promote successful and attractive to the owners and prospective owners in our franchise system.

Contact Info:

• Email: marketing@casaearlylearning.com
• Website: https://casaearlylearning.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casaearlylearning/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CasadeCorazonEarlyLearning/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsSzPpwr7n3R_2CwVyenuxg
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casa-de-coraz%C3%B3n/

Image Credits
Ester Knowlen