The Heart Behind Tesla Spanish Academy
Tesla Spanish Academy began with a simple belief: children can develop a love for language when it becomes a natural and meaningful part of their everyday world.
Since 2017, Tesla has grown into a close-knit Spanish immersion preschool community where children are known personally, families feel connected, and learning is filled with play, discovery, culture, and meaningful relationships.
Meet Our Founder
Tesla Spanish Academy was founded by Selene Karameto, a native Spanish speaker from Monterrey, Mexico, educator, and mother raising multilingual children.
The idea for Tesla grew from both professional experience and something very personal. After moving to Washington, Selene wanted her own children to have the opportunity to experience Spanish not simply as a subject, but as a living language—something connected to relationships, culture, play, and everyday life. When she couldn’t find the kind of Spanish immersion preschool experience she was looking for, she decided to create it.
What began as a small preschool grew through the support and trust of local families into the Tesla Spanish Academy of today.
Why Spanish Immersion?
For us, Spanish immersion is about much more than learning vocabulary.
Children experience Spanish naturally throughout their day—while playing with friends, listening to stories, creating art, singing, exploring outdoors, asking questions, sharing meals, and building relationships with their teachers. Over time, the language becomes connected to real experiences and meaningful memories.
Our hope is that children leave Tesla not only with a foundation in Spanish, but with confidence, curiosity, cultural appreciation, and openness to the world around them.
Small by Design
At Tesla, small classrooms are intentional.
They allow our teachers to truly know each child—their personality, interests, strengths, challenges, and individual way of learning. Children have room to develop at their own pace while still benefiting from the friendships, collaboration, and leadership opportunities that naturally happen in a mixed-age preschool community.
For families, this creates something equally important: connection. We want parents to know the people caring for their child and feel that they are part of their preschool experience—not simply dropping their child off at a large program.
Growing Together Since 2017
Founded in 2017 • Spanish Immersion • Ages 3–5 • Small Mixed-Age Classrooms • Bothell & Eastside Community
What started with a vision for meaningful early language learning has grown into a community of children, educators, and families who have helped shape Tesla over the years.
Our Families Say It Best
Jessica S. 2024
Tesla was the best decision we could have made for our daughter! She has absolutely flourished. She is always excited to go to school and comes home just as excited to talk about her day and what she learned. It was very important to her dad and I that she continue to learn and speak Spanish and she has done exactly that since she started school. Maestra Selene puts so much thought into her lesson plans and it is evident through the excitement of my daughter to learn and how much she is retaining. The topics are always something she is interested in and always important and relevant. Maestra Kathy has also been a wonderful addition to the school, this duo is definitely dynamic! I can’t rave about Tesla Spanish Academy enough! Our younger daughter will begin this upcoming school year and we couldn’t be happier!
Casey Y. June 22, 2021
We LOVE Tesla!! We were looking for a Spanish immersion preschool for our freshly 3 year old daughter, who comes from a monolingual (English) home. We are trying to give her the gift of bilingualism, so Spanish was a must for our preschool. After our first visit in January we loved it, and signed up for the fall. A spot opened up however in April, so we started our daughter early. In just 2 short months the growth we’ve seen in her has been phenomenal! In her language skills/comprehension (she sings songs in Spanish at home), in her physically (she is now day and night potty trained after being around the other wonderful students), and in her socially. After spending age 2 isolated due to the pandemic, she was very shy and never spent time away from us. Thanks to the patience, compassion, and support of her teachers and classmates she loves to interact with the other children (which we see away from school now too) and happily marches into school on her own. We can’t wait to continue our journey with Tesla in the fall – Selene has cultivated a fabulous preschool that gives SO much to the children, Spanish and beyond. Thank you!
Darcie H. April 2, 2019
This preschool is outstanding! There is nothing I have seen that compares to it. The teachers are very hands-on and always have fun and interesting lessons. I love that it is complete Spanish immersion. I’m learning Spanish with my 3-year-old son and it is so neat to hear him using Spanish at home that he learned in preschool. I will certainly be sending my daughter here as well when she gets old enough. Bravo Tesla Spanish Academy.
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