Homeschool Spanish Academy

Homeschool Spanish Academy: live Spanish classes with native teachers from Guatemala

Homeschool Spanish Academy (HSA) is an online educational program that connects students from around the world with certified Spanish teachers based in Antigua, Guatemala. Classes are taught live online and combine one-on-one or paired instruction with a curriculum tailored to each student's needs. The company states that its teaching team is native and that each teacher is selected and trained internally to deliver an authentic learning experience.

Programs by age and level

The academic offering is organized into six programs differentiated by age and session length:

• Preschool: 25-minute sessions for suggested ages 5 to 6, focused on pronunciation, greetings, basic conversational phrases, numbers, and identifying colors and objects.
• Elementary: 25-minute sessions for ages 6 to 10, aimed at helping students gain confidence to converse with native speakers and incorporate Spanish into their daily lives.
• Middle School: 50-minute sessions for ages 10 to 13, with sentence formation in all verb tenses and vocabulary expansion through conversation in every class.
• High School: 50-minute sessions for ages 13 to 18, with a more rigorous approach than the public high school curriculum, grammar mastery, and conversational application. The program covers the foreign language requirement for college admissions.
• Adults: 50-minute sessions for ages 18 and up, adapted for those returning to the language or starting from scratch, at their own pace.
• Schools: collaboration with private, hybrid, public, or online charter schools in the United States, a relationship the company dates back to 2010.

Methodology and service features

Classes are live, interactive instruction with native teachers. The academy offers a customized curriculum, flexible scheduling, individual or paired sessions, and payment options it describes as affordable. The company states that it teaches about 40,000 classes per month and that students can earn high school foreign language credit. Enrollment begins with a free trial class, with no credit card or commitment required, and the company offers a 30-day period or up to four classes to evaluate whether the program is a good fit.

Origins and work model

HSA was founded by Ron Fortin, who in 2010 observed in Antigua, Guatemala, a market with hundreds of Spanish schools and experienced teachers, but with highly cyclical tourism demand that made job stability difficult for instructors. The academy was conceived as a response to that situation: providing Spanish education year-round to the homeschooling community, which allowed Guatemalan teachers to access stable employment, higher salaries than at other schools, and full employee benefits, such as paid vacation, paid sick leave, annual bonuses, technical training, leadership mentoring, advancement opportunities, and medical insurance for them and their families. The company maintains that this model allows it to attract the best teachers in the region.

International reach and accreditation

The academy teaches classes from Guatemala to students in more than 30 countries. It holds accreditation that, according to its presentation, facilitates credit transfer to public high schools or institutions of higher learning, and offers the option to request a transcript.

Team and location

The entire HSA team works from Antigua, Guatemala, and consists of more than 50 teachers selected and trained internally. The company states its mission is to make Spanish learning as effective, efficient, and approachable as possible, and its vision is to bridge language and cultural barriers through meaningful relationships and experiences.