Training and Education

Quorum, the state’s FREE training service for early childhood professionals, offers all its trainings in Spanish. Through Quorum, you can get the health and safety trainings that are required before you start working in certain early childhood jobs, as well as topics including child development, assessment, curriculum implementation, and more! Read more about Quorum here (scroll down for Spanish), or start your free account here.

If you’re seeking a new college degree or certificate, New Mexico also offers key early childhood courses in Spanish. Offerings vary across the state, so check with the colleges or universities near you to see what is offered. Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) offers an entire early childhood associate degree pathway in Spanish, with English support classes along the way to build your English skills while you learn core content in Spanish. Plus, Santa Fe Community College offers its early childhood courses in Spanish. Many of these classes can be taken online from anywhere in the state. You can also transfer early childhood credits across different colleges, if you want to combine in-person courses in your community with online courses offered in Spanish on another campus.

Finding time in your busy life for college courses or training may be hard, but paying for it is easy in New Mexico thanks to a variety of scholarships (see our whole blog on this, here). Plus, New Mexico’s early childhood scholarship comes with a helpful human guide! If you apply for any of the state’s early childhood support programs, you’ll be matched with a coach to help with any questions or challenges that come up for you in accessing the programs. They have a Spanish-speaking coach, so you’ll be able to talk with someone who speaks your language if you need to.

Supports and Networks

Early childhood professionals spend a lot of their time with children, who are pretty amazing. But sometimes it’s nice to talk to a fellow adult. That’s why ECECD has organized networks, where early childhood professionals can talk about their successes and challenges, compare experiences, and support each other with resources and advice. ECECD supports networks for infant-toddler teachers, directors of early childhood programs, and home-based child care providers. These networks are all conducted bilingually or have Spanish-speaking cohorts.

Boost Your Earnings

Multilingual professionals bring an extremely valuable skill to their work. New Mexico’s children and families speak many languages, and early childhood professionals who can communicate in those languages are especially well positioned to connect with and successfully serve families and children. To recognize this, New Mexico offers a one-time payment of $1,500 to early childhood professionals who demonstrate they are bilingual. Applications for this program are closed as of February 2025 but are expected to reopen in July 2025.

Finally, New Mexico has a number of programs in place to help early childhood professionals boost their earnings. These include general wage supplements and specific programs for PreK, Head Start, and infant-toddler educators. These programs are not specifically for Spanish speakers, but you can apply for them in Spanish and a Spanish-speaking coach can help you with any questions or challenges.