Life brings many surprises. When we were living in Peru, my sister and I were very different from each other, so it was no surprise we chose different professional fields. I earned a degree as an English teacher, while Elizabeth (Lissy) graduated in computer science. We loved to do a lot of fun things, but independently.

Years passed and we decided to move to this beautiful city – Boston. In Boston, we again attended the same college together, but this time, driven by the love of working with children, we chose the same path, graduating from the Early Childhood Education program.  We both graduated with honors from the program, and on April 3 of 2009, received the Emerging Leader Award at Urban College of Boston's Early Childhood Education Award Luncheon.  Since our graduation, we have made a committment to give monthly donations to Urban College to benefit low-income students entering the early education field.

Since graduating, we have shared experiences, goals, and wishes. After more than 10 years working in the field of Early Childhood Education, Gladys had the opportunity to open the Little Children Schoolhouse in Brookline. Lissy joined the staff to complement the school's dedicated teaching team a year later. Each day brings the opportunity to learn by working side by side, helping each other provide the best care for children in Brookline.  We are the public faces of the Little Children Schoolhouse, but we make it a point to always remain accessible for our students and their families.  We personally supervise every class and consider ourselves additional teaching resources for all classrooms.

As a result of our extensive teachering experience, the foundation of the LCS philosophy on early childhood education is very strong. We understand the importance of enriching and strengthening family values for children, especially when the extended family lives in another country or city. We feel that the early years are so important, geographic distance should not be a barrier to the whole family sharing special projects or birthday surprises. We send Birthday, Friendship and New Year's cards along with every child's projects so that they may share them with parents, grandparents and special people, no matter where they live. We have a first hand appreciation of the importance of children developing a strong relationship with their extended families. We are very proud to send cards all over the world to nations such as China, Israel, Colombia, Japan, Spain, France and Brazil, to name a few.

The school was built on the idea of providing a nurturing, loving environment for children - an extension of each child's home and family life. Our professional experiences prepared us for working with children, but sharing the bonds of family has allowed us to create a warm, home-like experience for our students and their families. It is our joy to create a school that is a community within a community, where students, parents and staff form an extended family.

View the Little Children Schoolhouse video to to learn more about our Brookline daycare, preschool and pre-K programs.

Gladys Ruiz
Director, Little Children Schoolhouse

Elizabeth (Lissy) Rodriguez
Lead Teacher