Our Staff
Mrs. Silvina Hopkins,
Founder and Executive Director
Mrs. Hopkins is a native of Argentina. She holds a Master’s Degree in Psychology obtained in 1994, and she is fully licensed to work as a Professional Counselor in the Commonwealth of Virginia and in Washington, DC. Until the opening of Bambini, she had a busy psychotherapy practice where she provided services to children, teenagers, and their families. Mrs. Hopkins has a strong educational background as well as vast experience in child development and parenting- related matters. Mrs. Hopkins’ educational background and training complies with the requirements of the District of Columbia Child Development Center Licensing Department for a Child Development Center Director. In addition to her extensive experience as a child psychotherapist, Mrs. Hopkins worked as a teacher and assistant director in child development centers in Argentina and in the United States.
Mrs. Hopkins is responsible for providing leadership to the child development centers, overseeing the day-to-day operations. She lives in Virginia with her husband and their adoptive daughter, Natalia, who is a proud graduate of Bambini!
Our Teachers
We believe that teachers are at the center of a successful childcare program. In an industry where it’s not unusual for corporations to prosper on the backs of overworked and underpaid staff, we have decided to put the well-being of our teachers before short-term profits, because that translates into the well-being of the children under their care. We value our teachers as the true early child development professionals they are, and treat them with the respect they deserve as such. In addition to offering competitive pay and benefits including medical insurance, three weeks of paid vacation, paid sick leave, personal days, paid lunch breaks and transportation benefits, we most importantly offer a positive and caring work environment. We believe that happy and motivated teachers who love what they do make all the difference, and you can feel that difference at Bambini as soon as you walk into a classroom.
Another distinguishing feature of our Center from other centers in the area is that we limit our class sizes, most often below what regulations allow for the different age groups. We believe that a small class of students and a low student-to-teacher ratio is more conducive to an effective learning environment.
All of the instructors we hire are native-level Spanish speakers because the Bambini program emphasizes proper pronunciation and exposure to various aspects of Latin culture.