by Eileen Piper
CEO, Denver Preschool Program

Today, Denver Preschool Program tuition support – which is open to all Denver families, regardless of income – helps nearly 70 percent of Denver’s four-year-olds attend preschool each year.

But the program doesn’t measure success by enrollment alone. Last year, 91 percent of Denver Preschool Program four-year-olds were enrolled in top-quality preschool classrooms. According to a recent independent evaluation, more and more families are selecting preschools based on quality rather than cost or location. Nearly four times as many parents selected a preschool based on the school’s reputation of quality (29.3 percent) than based on the cost of tuition (7.4 percent).

Helping families choose high-quality preschools ensures Denver’s children benefit from what decades of research show. High-quality preschool promotes school success, leads to better jobs and even prevents crime. And while the benefits appear to be greatest for the economically disadvantaged, preschool benefits all children, regardless of their economic status.

The Denver Preschool Program drives quality by offering coaching and quality improvement grants to its more than 250 participating preschools. Preschools are independently rated for quality so Denver families can choose the best option for their children. Of course, preschool participation is voluntary, but we are pleased that some 90 percent of Denver’s center-based preschools have opted to participate and that, of these, nearly 85 percent say that participating in the Denver Preschool Program has encouraged them to improve the quality of their programming.

The program’s emphasis on quality is paying big dividends. Evaluation results indicate that the vast majority of the nearly 6,000 children who participate in the Denver Preschool Program every year leave the program ready for kindergarten – socially, emotionally and academically. Three-quarters of children scored at the average or above on literacy and math assessments, well above what would be expected in the general population. Similarly, teachers identified significantly fewer children with behavioral concerns than one would expect in the general population. These are achievements that voters who approved the Denver Preschool Program in 2006 can be proud of.

Since the Denver Preschool Program began, the city has collected roughly $10.5 million per year in sales tax revenue for the program. Every year, approximately 10 percent of this revenue is dedicated toward improving the quality of participating preschools, while more than 70 percent is allocated toward tuition support.

Denver Preschool Program tuition credits – which range from $34 per month to $365 per month for full-day programming – are available for all Denver families with a child in their last year of preschool before kindergarten and can be applied toward attendance at a wide variety of preschools all across the metro area. Families can find descriptions and quality ratings for these preschools on the Denver Preschool Program website, which also includes a tuition credit calculator to estimate the level of your family’s tuition support.

VisitDenverPreschoolProgram.org or call 303-595-4377 for information.