By Nick Curl
October 13, 2025
When the final bell rings at Para Los Niños Charter Middle School, the day doesn’t end. It simply shifts into something new. Students spill out of classrooms toward soccer games, robotics projects, and art activities. Amidst it all is Sindy Lopez, greeting students by name, checking in on how they’re doing, and offering snacks from her office.
“I always have snacks,” she says with a laugh. “And if I don’t, I go buy some more or order more. Sometimes that’s all a student needs, right? They come in hungry and don’t even know how to voice it. My office is that safe space where they can come to vent or talk or just get a snack.”
Sindy has been the middle school’s Expanded Learning program’s site supervisor for four years, but she’s been with Para Los Niños for more than a decade. “I’ve been at Para Los Niños for 11 years,” she says. “I wanted to kind of get my hands dirty and really get in the field. My goal back then was to be an elementary school teacher.”
Over time, Sindy’s role grew. She became a lead teacher at PLN’s Gratts Primary Center, running enrichment programs alongside her supervisor. When the opportunity came to supervise at the middle school, she took it. “Now I’m the one running the show,” she says. “I had never worked in middle school before. I had only worked with elementary and primary age kids, so now it’s completely different. I didn’t realize how fun it can be. It’s a different type of fun. It’s a challenging type of fun.”
That challenge, for Sindy, is what makes the work meaningful. “Part of it is really having conversations with the students,” she says. “I get to interact with them on a daily basis. I feel like there’s a reason why I was put in this position and at this specific location, maybe because of the community we serve.”
Many of the students who come through her program are new to Los Angeles or living in temporary housing nearby. “We have a lot of students who come from different countries,” Sindy explains. “Some are only at our school for a few months because of their living situation. We serve a lot of students who are unhoused and live at the Union Rescue Mission, which is just a few blocks away. For some, it’s their first time being in a school environment in the United States.”
Helping them adjust feels personal. “I feel very privileged to be able to help them and guide them because when I was younger, I was in that same position.”
Sindy was born in Guatemala and came to Los Angeles when she was eleven. “I didn’t come to the United States until I was like 11, almost 12,” she says. “I remember what that was like, trying to figure everything out. My parents were supportive. My dad would have me come home every day with a new English word and I had to know the meaning, the translation, and how to use it in a sentence.”
When her students learn this, they’re often surprised. “They’re like, ‘Your English is so good!’ and I tell them, ‘I’m still learning.’ It helps me connect with them,” Sindy says. “I want to be that person that I didn’t have when I was in school: someone who could take the time to listen and guide me.”
That sense of connection shapes everything she does in Expanded Learning. “Once you’re in here, I don’t want you to think about anything that’s going on outside,” she says. “I want you to be present. I want you to mingle with people. I want to give you fun things to do, fun places to go.”
The Expanded Learning program has become a space for exploration and joy. “We offer enrichment opportunities Monday through Friday,” Sindy explains. “During breaks we do camps, whether it’s winter, spring, or fall. We do activities like sports, science, arts and crafts, team-building… anything that gets them engaged.”
She laughs as she describes the students’ favorite projects. “The dirtier their activity is, the more fun they have. That’s usually how it goes.”
She calls the approach “learning in disguise.” “Like if they’re creating roller coasters, we talk about the science behind it. Then we take a field trip to Six Flags and they see it all in real life. It’s that connection that makes it stick,” she says.
Field trips are a huge part of the program, a chance to open students’ eyes to new places and possibilities. “I’ve taken them to universities, to museums, even ice skating,” Sindy says. “Sometimes a student will start school on a Monday and by Friday they’re on a college field trip with us. It’s about empowering them to see what’s possible.”
Her passion for that work comes from her own mentors and colleagues. “I’ve always had people who supported my crazy ideas,” she says. “Like when I said, ‘Hey, how about we take the kids to UC Santa Barbara?’ My program director said, ‘That’s far,’ but they still said yes. I feel lucky to be surrounded by people who believe in giving our students these experiences.”
That same spirit of encouragement extends to her staff. “I have a really strong team,” she says. “They’re my bridges. Through them I get to know a lot more about my students because I can’t be in every classroom, but I try my best. We check in with students every day — if someone misses a day, we ask how they’re doing. Just a little thank you goes a long way.”
The program also creates vital support for working parents. “It helps them in a lot of different ways,” Sindy says. “They know their kids are in a safe place with people they can trust. We run until six o’clock. That gives parents peace of mind; maybe they stay a little later at work, maybe they run errands.
For families, Expanded Learning is more than an after-school program. It’s part of a larger community of care. “We offer things like cooking, media arts, science — all in-house,” Sindy explains. “Parents don’t have to travel or pay for extra programs. Everything happens here.”
The students, she says, don’t want to leave. “Even when parents come to pick them up, they ask for ten more minutes,” Sindy laughs. “They’re having fun. That tells me we’re doing something right.”
Some of the most meaningful moments come when former students return to visit. “It’s funny because when they’re here [in middle school], they can’t wait to leave,” she says. “Then they come back because it’s a place where they feel safe and understood. Some come back to volunteer, some just to check in. I tell them, the doors are always open.”
When they do, Sindy sees how much they’ve grown. “Some will say, ‘I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time,’ and I’m like, you matured a lot in a year,” she says, smiling. “Others say that being here helped them understand themselves: what they like, what they don’t, how to set boundaries. That’s the goal. To help them take a little something of us with them, wherever they go.”
After more than a decade with Para Los Niños, Sindy still feels that same sense of purpose she had when she first started. “I see myself in my students every day,” she says. “I think I was placed here for a reason — to be an example, to be a consistent person for them, and to show them what they’re capable of. There’s always opportunity for anyone out there. Sometimes you just have to know where to look.”
