The Spanish word 'escuelita' meaning 'little school' comes from combining the word 'escuela' (school) with the diminutive suffix '-ita'. The word 'escuela' itself has ancient roots, tracing back to the Latin word 'schola', which meant 'school'. Going even further back, 'schola' was borrowed from Ancient Greek 'scholē' (σχολή), which interestingly originally meant 'leisure' or 'free time' - this semantic shift occurred because ancient Greeks viewed leisure time as an opportunity for learning and philosophical discussion.

The most obvious related Spanish word is 'escuela' (school), which is simply the base word without the diminutive suffix. The diminutive '-ita' is a very common Spanish suffix used to indicate smallness or endearment, as seen in many other Spanish words like 'casita' (little house) from 'casa' or 'perrito' (little dog) from 'perro'.

Several common English words share the same Greek root as 'escuelita'. The most obvious is 'school' itself, which also comes from Latin 'schola'. Other related English words include 'scholar' (someone devoted to learning), 'scholastic' (relating to school or education), and even 'schedule' - which originally referred to a paper containing writing, particularly a list of school subjects.