Priscilla Monserrate-Sanders, MPH --Bamboleo Co-Founder

was born in the USA to hardworking and loving parents from Ecuador. Priscilla grew up speaking Spanish as a first language. Having lived in Ecuador as a child and traveling throughout Latin America as an adult, she developed a passion for working with Latino communities. As a result, she dedicated most of her professional career to working with and for the underserved Latino populations in her native southern California communities. She developed  curricula for programs serving Latino children and youth for more than ten years, specifically in the fields of public health and youth development. 

After starting a family of her own, Priscilla discovered a passion for working with young children, and a gap in affordable activities to support a bilingual upbringing of children in her local community. Drawing from her professional experience developing curricula, she studied the underpinnings of leading second language aquisition theories and practices, including Total Physical Response and Total Physical Response and Storytelling, and with a firm belief that "the earlier the better," she began the process of adapting such frameworks to a preliterate group, specifically preschool-aged children.

Critical to the process of developing a successful early childhood language program was Priscilla's course work in Early Childhood Education, and participation in developmental cooperative preschools and Waldorf preschool programs with her three young children. These experiences offered important tools to move from theory to action. As a result, Hola Spanish Immersion Programs was born in 2007!

The programs offered through HSIP were met with great success in her local community of Long Beach, CA. The joy of watching child after child go off to kindergarten with a love of and growth in the Spanish language after years of participation in HSIP had been affirming of the model's effectiveness. The ability to determine her own schedule and earn a good income for hours worked amidst a weak economy also affirmed a second wish: To develop an affordable small-business model for others to grow in their own communities.

Toward that end, Priscilla partnered with the incredibly talented (and FUN!) Gabriela Ugalde-Perez in the spring of 2011 and launched Bamboleo: Where kids sing, dance, and play in Spanish. With Gabriela's extensive training and experience in music theory and language acquision, musical talents, and passion for working with children the partnership was a perfect match!

Priscilla teaches Bamboleo classes in Long Beach, CA and surrounding communities. She lives with her immensely supportive and loving husband, and three wonderful children in Long Beach, CA.

Gabriela Perez Ugalde, MA--Bamboleo Co-Founder

Gabby was born in the USA to Argentinean parents and was raised bilingual thanks to their strong commitment to keep the home language alive, while learning the language of their new home.

Gabby supposes all of the wonderful books and vinyl records sent to her by family back in Argentina helped to keep her Spanish alive, with works, for example, by Maria Elena Walsh and Walter Jonsky. The magic involved with being allowed to use her mom’s typewriter if she wrote letters to “la abuela” in Spanish also helped!

After starting elementary school in the USA, Gabby moved with her family back to Argentina where she remained through college. She graduated with a BA in Music Education under the guidance and support of inspiring teachers, including Drs. Silvia Malbrán and Silvia Furnó, who are leading authors and researchers in the field of Music Education.  

Her study in Argentina focused on how people perceive events in music, and how those perceptions are symbolized in different ways and with different systems. Her studies paved the way for Gabby's further work integrating music into language and reading. After working in music education for more ten than years in Argentina, she moved back to the USA on her own, and joyfully accepting a position as a bilingual music teacher at The New City School, where she currently holds a full time position.

Gabby's MS in Education, with emphasis in Dual Language Development has increased her available resources to help children acquire a second language in a more comprehensive and global context, through song, play and movement.

When Gabby met Priscilla and observed her classes, integrating multisensory stimuli with quality stories, and engaging props and activities, she knew she had found her teaching "soulmate" to bring her love for quality music education and second/heritage language development together.

Gabby lives in Long Beach with her husband Ricardo with whom she shares a passion for music and yummy food.

Ricardo Marotta

bio coming soon...