ROCHESTER — Dancing to “Shake It Off,” “Barbie Girl” and “That’s Who I Praise,” three girls wearing light pink robes waltzed down the aisle during their preschool graduation from Learning Tree Family Daycare.

Learning Tree Family Daycare is a daycare with a Spanish immersion program. Kids learn the alphabet in Spanish, sing songs in Spanish and learn the shapes, numbers and colors. When the kids have circle time, everything is said in Spanish.

Roxana D’Italia, who founded the Learning Tree in 2020, explained that most of the children who attend Learning Tree don’t speak Spanish when they start going to the daycare but“they want to keep it up” after they graduate.

“I think that’s a great asset for Learning Tree — the Spanish that we teach the kids,” D’Italia said.

During the graduation ceremony, Tallita Lambalot, a teacher at Learning Tree, asked the graduates what they think kindergarten will be like.

Rochester resident Colbie, 5, who was only three months old when she started attending Learning Tree, said she expects that her teacher is going to teach her how to read books.

“We are very sad that the kids are leaving, but we are very happy because it’s just one more step,” Lambalot said during the ceremony.

The Saturday, June 21 graduation ceremony also marked the daycare’s five-year anniversary.

D’Italia said that when she opened the daycare in 2020, she would tell herself that so long as the program had four kids that would be enough to maintain the daycare.

“We are just very grateful that the community has received Learning Tree with such open arms,” D’Italia said.

Now that the preschool has 10 students enrolled and a waitlist of 20 people, D’Italia is thinking of expanding.

“We love what we’re doing, and we see the necessity,” she said.

While Learning Tree currently takes inspiration from Montessori preschool practices, which includes outdoor play, D’Italia said she would like the daycare to be certified when she expands the program.

In addition to D’Italia there are three teachers who teach the kids and keep the program going.

“Our teachers are phenomenal, and they are the heart of learning,” D’Italila said.

Lambalot, who has been teaching at Learning Tree since 2023 said the kids are all “very special, so smart and they are like part of my family.”

She emphasized that Learning Tree isn’t just a daycare where parents send their children to be watched over while they’re at work.

“Our job is so important because we help them to develop right now so in the future they don’t have any problems,” Lambalot said.

She added, “We really help them develop a lot of skills that they’re going to use for the rest of their lives,”

Bailee O’Connor, who started teaching at Learning Tree Family Daycare in September 2024 said she enjoys helping the kids learn and “move up in their lives.”

“Seeing them learn different things and grow and just laugh, it’s just great to see,” she said.