Preschool Program Information

A Colorado Shines rating is a symbol of quality. The Colorado Shines rating is a guarantee to families that your program is licensed, in good standing, and meets basic health and safety standards. 

Colorado Shines rates the quality of Colorado's Early Learning Programs on a scale of 1 to 5, based on how well a program:

• Supports children's health and safety
• Ensures staff are well-trained and effective
• Provides a supportive learning environment that teaches children new skills
• Helps parents become partners in their child's learning
• Demonstrates good leadership and business practices

Once you receive a rating, Colorado Shines provides support to help your program continue to improve its quality. Colorado Shines is a flexible process that can be customized to meet the needs of each program. Learn More About Colorado Shine for Families. 

Currently, all Douglas County School District Preschool Programs have received a Level 3 Rating. We are in the ongoing process of improving our quality rating for all of our preschool classrooms across the district.  As a part of our quality rating process, the Early Childhood Department creates a Quality Improvement Plan which is primarily developed using family and staff surveys. We take the information from the surveys and develop goals to improve the quality of our programs for the families that we serve. To access our current Quality Improvement Plan for the 2024/25 School Year, please click HERE

To create quality programming it is essential to have a comprehensive curriculum to help guide our teaching staff. Our program utilizes the Creative Curriculum for Preschool as a comprehensive, research-based curriculum that features inquiry, exploration, and discovery as the foundation of all learning. This program is a content-rich, play-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum, it delivers academic rigor alongside social-emotional learning and cognitive development. This curriculum aligns with the Teaching Strategies GOLD Assessment which is completed for all students throughout their attendance in our programs. This measures all areas of student development through observation. In addition, we use the Early Step Social Emotional curriculum, which is a branch of the Second Step Program that aligns with district programming for Kindergarten through 6th grade. This program supports self-regulation and social-emotional skills which will help our littlest learners harness their energy and potential by teaching them how to: Listen, Pay Attention, Manage Their Behaviors, and Get Along With Others. Lastly, all classrooms use the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scales (ECERS). this tool is used to measure quality in each classroom environment as well as interactions between staff and children. Staff uses this tool to create goals moving forward to increase quality in each individual classroom.

We implement two age-based classroom sessions, AM and PM available Monday through Thursday. This allows for targeted and age-appropriate learning opportunities in our classrooms. All of our classrooms are programmed as a fully inclusive educational setting. These classrooms are populated with a variety of student learners, including students who are considered "neuro-typical," students who are identified as "at-risk" but the Colorado Preschool Program (CPP), and students who are identified as having a disability that requires special education services (IEP). This inclusive setting fosters a high-quality learning environment that provides greater access to age-appropriate peer modeling and higher-level social interactions, play, and pre-academic opportunities. 

Three-year-olds will be placed in the morning session to meet their unique developmental needs. 

Four-year-olds (children who turn before October 1st) will be placed in the afternoon session to support their developmental progress towards and readiness for Kindergarten.

We offer the following options for three-year-olds only that do not have Universal Preschool eligible factors

Two days a week (Monday/Wednesday OR Tuesday/Thursday) 
Cost: 170.00/per month

Four days a week (Monday through Thursday)
Cost: 340.00/per month

Registration Fee
Cost: 100.00/per student, per school year

All tuition is processed through My School Bucks. If you have a question or need assistance in regards to tuition please contact 720.433.1187.

Every Four-year-old for the year prior to their entry to Kindergarten in the state of Colorado is eligible for up to 15 hours of state-funded voluntary preschool. For school district programs we will offer 15 hours of programming (3 hours Monday thru Friday) for all four-year olds (afternoon session) prior to their Kindergarten year.

Three-year-olds may access 10 hours of tuition-free preschool programming (2 hours and 30 minutes Monday thru Thursday) if they meet one of the following criteria, this programming can only be accessed in the Douglas County Preschool programs. 

• Household income below 270% of the 2023 poverty guideline
• individualized Education Plan (IEP)
• Homelessness
• Dual Language Learner
• Foster/Kinship Care
   

For more information about Universal Preschool please click HERE

Students who have been found eligible to receive special education services (IEP) AND are three and up to age five will receive their services in one of our preschool classrooms. If you have recently moved to Colorado and your child was receiving special education services in another state please email azundel@dcsdk12.org to begin the direct placement process. If you have concerns about your child's development and are interested in a developmental assessment at no charge (Birth to five years), please click HERE to request an appointment. 

More information on Special Education Programming in Preschool can be accessed on the Colorado Department of Education website.