Martí Spanish Academy is a full-immersion Spanish academy designed to be motivating and stimulating—that means that we spend every moment at the academy speaking in Spanish.  This academy is ideal for students who don’t want their Spanish skills to get rusty over the summer, students who want to study abroad, and/or be bilingual in the future. It is also ideal for students who have completed their language requirements who would like to become more fluent so they can retain more of their language skills for future use.

The Academy is named after José Martí (1853-1895), a Cuban statesman whose life’s works embodied the spirit of letters (language).  Not only was Martí a renowned poet and writer, but he was also a journalist, translator, interpreter, great orator, and professor of literature.  In addition, he excelled in painting and served as diplomat for several Latin American countries.  He is also revered as the hero of the Cuban Independence Movement from Spain and died in a skirmish fighting for independence in 1895.  He is best known for his poem Versos Sencillos, part of which was later turned into the popular song Guantanamera.

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About our mentors

Our mentors have near-native or native fluency and have typically had experience abroad, teaching and working with high school age students.

About the director, Jacqueline Gottstein

Mrs. Gottstein has studied and taught in two Spanish-speaking countries, is a former high school Spanish teacher, and currently teaches Spanish at a community college in the United States. While earning her degree in Spanish at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, she studied abroad for a year at the Universidad de Murcia in Murcia, Spain. After graduation, she taught English and History at a private school in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Mrs. Gottstein also has a Master's of Arts in Liberal Studies from Hollins University.

Having attended the Spanish Advanced Placement Institute in the summer of 2006, she trained first-hand in the recent changes in the AP Spanish test and recognizes the emphasis on the integration of all language skills.  Consequently, she has created activities for the Martí Spanish Academy that will enable students to integrate and interact, to better prepare for the AP exam (should they desire to take it); but most importantly, to put students well on their way to attaining fluency in Spanish.

Mrs. Gottstein also regularly travels to Spanish-speaking countries in order to bring back authentic materials for the academy and has traveled extensively in Spain, Bolivia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Argentina.