2011 Evaluation Results:
Denver Preschool Program Kids are Ready for Kindergarten

Click here for further details

The results of the Denver Preschool Program's 2011 evaluation are in, and we are proud to announce that the evaluation points to a program that is getting results for Denver's kids. The annual evaluation findings indicate that students in the Denver Preschool Program make significant progress during their preschool year - above and beyond what would be expected based on normal development - and that the vast majority of children leave the Denver Preschool Program ready for kindergarten. Research shows that kids who are better prepared for kindergarten are more likely to be successful in school and later in life. For further information on the evaluation, click here. The full report can be accessed here: Part 1 (Parents and Providers) & Part 2 (Child Outcomes).

Preschool One Book, One Denver - Thank you for Voting

Voting has closed, bu you can still click here to view the book finalists!

The Denver Preschool Program - in collaboration with Reach Out and Read Colorado, the Denver Public Library, and Arts & Venues Denver - is hosting the fourth-annual Preschool One Book, One Denver. Preschool One Book, One Denver is a city-wide book club for young children, which celebrates and highlights the importance of early literacy. We thank all of you who participated in the voting to help us pick the final book selection for the 2012 event!

Denver’s preschool providers, Reach Out and Read readers, and Denver librarians helped narrow the book choices to three finalists. For a description of each book, click here to see the voting announcement.

Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell
Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse
Maybe a Bear Ate It! by Robie Harris

We have Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, 9NEWS Anchor Kyle Dyer, Former Denver Mayor Bill Vidal, and other special guest readers.

The winner will be announced on April 18th, which will kick off the city-wide book club and the Week of the Young Child. The chosen book’s author, Mayor Michael Hancock and other special guests will host readings and events throughout the city. Watch for announcements in regards to the events and all of the city-wide readings that will occur between April 18 and 28.

Click aquí para Español

2012-2013 Tuition Credit Scale Approved

At their year-end meeting, the DPP Board of Directors approved the Tuition Credit Scale for the 2012-2013 school year, and we are excited to announce that the scale represents a 20 percent increase in the amount of tuition credits that DPP will be distributing to our families! We know that the last couple years have been tough on many in our community, so it is our sincere hope that this modest increase will help to relieve some of the strain that Denver families have faced during these trying economic times. Check out our Tuition Credit Calculator that include this information. Please note, the Tuition Credit Calculator will report the latest scale, for the current school year, click here to view the 2011-2012 Tuition Credit Scale.

CLASS™ Selected for Inclusion in DPP's Quality Rating and Improvement System

Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, the Denver Preschool Program will be adding a new component to our quality rating and improvement system. Up to this point in our history, we have relied largely on the Qualistar ™ tool as both the means of judging quality in our classrooms and as the means of determining how our quality improvement resources should be invested. Beginning next school year, however, we will be adding a vital new component to our quality improvement system - a tool known as CLASS™, or the Classroom Assessment Scoring System.

Developed by researchers at the University of Virginia, CLASS™ is a tool that really focuses in on that element of preschool education that research tells us is the primary ingredient for launching future school success: the teacher-child interactions that occur in the classroom on a daily basis. We know how critical these interactions are in improving outcomes for Denver's kids, which is why we've decided to bring this tool alongside Qualistar™ and provide Denver's families with an even more comprehensive quality rating system by which they can assess the quality of Denver's preschools.

At present we are targeting 2012-2013 as the pilot year for the instrument and 2013-2014 as the first full year of implementation. Stay tuned for further details as this important process unfolds.