Denver Preschoolers are ready for kindergarten
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Leave a Comment
By Eileen Piper, CEO of the Denver Preschool Program
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about the education of my children. As the CEO of the Denver Preschool Program and as a parent myself, I’m constantly considering how to best educate and support my children so that they become well-rounded and successful adults.
In my position at the Denver Preschool Program, I have the advantage of learning preschool’s benefits on a deep level and am happy to report to other parents that preschool is an investment worth making. I’ve seen it in my own children, and we see it in many of the students who enroll in the Denver Preschool Program.
For those who aren’t familiar, the Denver Preschool Program is the result of a ballot initiative that passed in 2006. The program sets aside .12 percent of Denver sales tax revenue to fund tuition credits to help families pay for preschool and quality improvement grants to help providers improve their programs. All Denver children are eligible to participate in the year before kindergarten, and today nearly 70 percent of the city’s 4-year-olds are participating, making us one of the highest enrolled preschool programs in the country.
After only five years as a program, we’ve helped pay for more than 20,000 kids to go to preschool and are already seeing positive results from the program.
We just released our annual evaluation report, which revealed that Denver Preschool Program students made significant progress during their preschool year—progress that is above and beyond what is considered typical.
The vast majority of Denver Preschool Program children leave the program ready for kindergarten, both academically and emotionally. And we know that those kids who are ready for kindergarten are more likely to be successful in school and later in life.
The vast majority of Denver Preschool Program children leave the program ready for kindergarten, both academically and emotionally. And we know that those kids who are ready for kindergarten are more likely to be successful in school and later in life.
We also learned from our evaluation report just how important preschool quality is to parents. Parents surveyed revealed that quality was a more important factor in selecting a preschool than cost. That may be why more than 90 percent of DPP students are enrolled in the highest quality preschools.
Many parents begin considering where to send their child to preschool at this time of year. As you think about that decision, I encourage you to consider the school’s quality rating. You can learn more about these quality ratings – as well as further information about the Denver Preschool Program’s various preschool partners – by visiting our website at www.DenverPreschoolProgram.org.
In considering your child’s future, remember that preschool is an investment in a bright future for your child. To learn more about enrolling in the Denver Preschool Program, visit our website or contact us at 303-595-4DPP or info@dpp.org.
Posts
We asked Eileen about how to find a good preschool:
"On our web site (www.dpp.org) we have a search tool so any mom or dad can search Denver metro neighborhoods for participating preschools and check out the program's star rating (so families can look by work or home). Denver Preschool Program works with both DPS classrooms as well as community-based programs and family day care homes, so families should be able to have at least a few options to locate a good quality program."