Media Room

Denver Preschool Program Releases 2011 Evaluation Results

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:28:00 GMT

Denver Preschool Program Kids are Ready for Kindergarten

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.

“We conduct an annual evaluation each year to see how we are doing,” says Eileen Piper, CEO, Denver Preschool Program. “The evaluation shows that our commitment to quality education is truly impacting the Denver community and helping students succeed in their preschool year and beyond.”

The evaluation also shows that Denver Preschool Program parents understand the importance of preschool. Parents see preschool as important to a child’s development, cognitive, social and emotional growth, and long-term success in school.

To learn more about DPP's 2011 Evaluation Report, please access any of the following materials:

Press Release (also available in Spanish)

Evaluation Fact Sheet (also available in Spanish)

Full Evaluation Report Part 1 (Parents and Providers) & Part 2 (Child Outcomes)

Preschool's One Book One Denver - Voting has Begun

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:07:00 GMT

Click here to view the book finalists and vote for your favorite!

The Denver Preschool Program, in collaboration with Reach out and Read Colorado, The Denver Public Library & Arts and Venues Denver are hosting the 4^th annual Preschool's One Book One Denver. Preschool's One Book One Denver is a city-wide book club for young children, which celebrates and highlights the importance of early literacy. We are asking YOU to help us pick the final book selection for the 2012 event!

Our preschool providers and Denver librarians helped narrow the book choices to three finalists. For a description of each book, please click here to view the voting announcement.

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

Please visit the voting website and see the books being read in both Spanish and English, and to vote for your favorite! 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.

We can’t wait to see what book Denver chooses as the 2012 selection!

Click aquí para Español

DPP Announces the next Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference - to be held in 2013

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:50:00 GMT

The inaugural Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference (RMECC) in April, 2011, was a resounding success. With well over 2,000 attendees participating in some 200 sessions on topics ranging from everything from early childhood pedagogy to early childhood policy, the four convening organizations – the Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC), the Colorado Head Start Association (CHSA), the Denver Preschool Program (DPP), and the Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado (ECEAC) – could not have been happier with how the event turned out.

But big successes such as this create big precedents, and in order to ensure that the next Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference is at least as successful as the first, we have decided to forgo the 2012 calendar year and instead target early 2013 for the next RMECC event. Specifically, the next Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference will take place from February 28th to March 2nd, 2013, at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver. While this seems like quite a ways away, it will be here before we know it, so please mark your calendars, make plans to join us in Denver in early 2013, and be sure to check back with us frequently at our website (ecconference.com) for ongoing conference updates.

Since RMECC will not be taking place in 2012, three of the four partnering organizations will be hosting individual conferences of their own much as they did prior to the creation of the joint conference. CAEYC, CHSA, & ECEAC all will be holding separate conferences sometime during 2012, and your attendance at these events is highly encouraged. Beginning in 2013, however, our four organizations have committed to making RMECC an annual event, so you can anticipate that the Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference will be an annual fixture on the spring calendar every year thereafter.
Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to gathering with you in Denver for the second convening of RMECC in 2013. And in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@ecconference.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions you might have.

DPP Seeks an Intern

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:50:00 GMT

Looking for a unique opportunity to work with a small, dynamic nonprofit? Wanting to gain firsthand experience helping to implement an important public policy initiative? Click here for further details on DPP's fall internship opening. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

20,000 Kids & Counting. Read More in Our Fall Newsletter

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:49:00 GMT

Dear DPP Partners, Friends, Parents, & Providers,

Thank you for your continued support of and interest in the Denver Preschool Program.

This is an exciting time for us. It’s been five years since the Denver Preschool Program began, and this fall we hit a major milestone: We have enrolled more than 20,000 kids in the Denver Preschool Program!

That’s 20,000 kids enrolled in quality-focused preschool in Denver, 20,000 kids better prepared for kindergarten, 20,000 kids more likely to go on to succeed in school and beyond.

We also have some exciting news about the organization. Eileen Piper has been named our new CEO! Piper has been the Acting CEO of the Denver Preschool Program since James Mejia took a leave of absence in December. Eileen has brought so much to the program since she joined us, and we are looking forward to her continued leadership.

Also this fall, we are excited to take part in discussions about Colorado’s application for the Early Learning Challenge Fund, the federal Race to the Top grant for early childhood education. The application is due in October, and we feel like Colorado is in a great position to win.

Our newsletters are a great opportunity to let you know how we are doing, but we’d like to hear from you as well. Please feel free to contact us at dan@dpp.org if you have any questions, or if you would like to share stories about your experience with the Denver Preschool Program. Thank you.

Preschool Matters: Fall 2011 Edition (click here)

Preschool Matters: Fall 2011 Parent Edition (available in both English & Spanish)

Denver Preschool Program Names Eileen Piper Chief Executive Officer

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:42:00 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Abigail Kesner, SE2
303.892.9100 x20 (office)
917.750.2272 (cell)

September 13, 2011

Denver Preschool Program Names Eileen Piper Chief Executive Officer

(DENVER) The Denver Preschool Program has named Eileen Piper as its next Chief Executive Officer. Piper has been the acting CEO of the Denver Preschool Program since former CEO James Mejia took a leave of absence in December of 2010 to run for mayor. Mejia formally resigned from the CEO position in June.

"I am pleased to congratulate Eileen Piper on her appointment as the new CEO of the Denver Preschool Program as we share a common commitment to ensuring our kids have ample opportunities to live up to their God-given potential," said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. "It's clear that moving Denver forward and creating a brighter future will require the coordinated efforts of all sectors of the community. With Eileen's leadership, we look forward to building a stronger partnership with the Denver Preschool Program that will help to forge effective pathways for all of Denver's children from cradle to career."

The Denver Preschool Program is a not-for-profit organization that helps Denver families pay for high-quality preschool across the city and offers funding to local preschool programs to improve their quality.

“As an organization that provides access to quality preschool for nearly 6,000 children every year, the Denver Preschool Program could not be in better hands,” says John Plotkin, Chair, Denver Preschool Program Board of Directors. “Eileen has shown tremendous leadership, skill and dedication to early childhood education and we are happy she has agreed to continue in this role.”

Piper previously served as the Denver Preschool Program's Director of Policy and Program Administration and has been with the Denver Preschool Program for nearly a year and a half.

“The Denver Preschool Program has done such great work to date making high-quality preschool more accessible to Denver families,” said Piper. “I’m proud to continue this work and look forward to seeing these kids go on to succeed in school and help make the Denver community a better place.”

“The Denver Preschool Program reached an important milestone this year: We enrolled our 20,000th child into the program in just the fifth year of our existence,” continued Piper. “That’s 20,000 children who are more likely to succeed in school and in life. I look forward to growing that number and watching all their success.”

With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in early childhood education as well as a strong background in business, Piper is well-positioned to serve as the CEO of the Denver Preschool Program. She spent a number of years teaching in preschool classrooms and working in the child care resource and referral arena before transitioning to the business sector, obtaining her MBA from Harvard, and going on to work for the McDonald’s Corporation.

James Mejia Resigns from Denver Preschool Program

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:26:00 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Abigail Kesner, SE2
303.892.9100 x20 (office)
917.750.2272 (cell)

June 29, 2011

DENVER -- Tuesday, James Mejia announced his resignation as Chief Executive Officer of the Denver Preschool Program. Mejia took a leave of absence from the Denver Preschool Program in December, 2010, to run a campaign for Denver mayor. Eileen Piper has been Acting CEO in his absence.

“While we are sorry to see James go, we are grateful to him for helping to make the Denver Preschool Program what it is today. We wish him well,” said John Plotkin, Board Chair, Denver Preschool Program. “The program has been in good hands under Eileen’s leadership.”

“Building on the strong foundation James has created, the Denver Preschool Program has continued to help parents pay for preschool and improve the quality of preschool programs in Denver over the past year,” said Piper. “We intend to continue the important work of preparing Denver kids for kindergarten and beyond.”

The Board is already discussing the appropriate next steps for the organization, and Piper will continue in her role as Acting CEO during that time.

# # #

About Denver Preschool Program -- The Denver Preschool Program is the result of a ballot initiative approved by Denver residents in November 2006. The initiative recognizes the importance of quality early childhood educational opportunities for all City and County of Denver children by setting aside one-twelfth of one percent of sales tax revenues for improvement grants for preschool providers and tuition credits that families may use at the preschool of their choice. It is open and voluntary for all Denver children in the last year of preschool before kindergarten and includes all licensed preschool providers who agree to participate in its quality improvement system. For additional information on the program or to learn how to get involved, visit www.dpp.org.

Preschool Matters: The Denver Preschool Program Newsletter (Spring Edition)

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:50:00 GMT

Dear DPP Parents, DPP Providers, and DPP Partners & Friends,

Thank you for your continued support of and interest in the Denver Preschool Program (DPP).
Below find links to the most recent version of our regular newsletter, Preschool Matters. Inside this edition you will find:

Highlights from the first-annual Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference
Pictures from Preschool One Book, One Denver,
And compelling stories from DPP providers and parents.

Our newsletters are a great opportunity to let you know how we are doing. As a taxpayer-funded program tasked with increasing access to quality early childhood education, we want to keep all Denver citizens informed of our progress and our successes.

The Denver Preschool Program provides tuition credits for preschool for all Denver families and quality improvement grants to Denver preschool providers. Every year, we release the results of an independent evaluation report on DPP, and the data indicate that DPP children do noticeably better than what one would expect for typical development in preschool-aged children.

We all know the positive impact early childhood education has on both a student’s success and a community’s economic growth, and we are proud to be a part of this effort. Thanks for reading.

Preschool Matters: DPP Partner Edition (click here)

Preschool Matters: DPP Parent Edition (available in both English & Spanish)

Preschool Matters: DPP Provider Edition (click here)

Llama Announced as 2011 Preschool One Book, One Denver Selection

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:18:00 GMT

The Denver Preschool Program (DPP) and the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) have announced the selection for this year’s Preschool One Book, One Denver (POBOD)! Beginning April 15, 2011, many of Denver’s preschoolers will begin reading Is Your Mama A Llama? by Deborah Guarino. Celebrating its 22nd year in print with more than a million copies sold in that time, Is Your Mama A Llama? is a perennial favorite of parents and children alike. To help us celebrate the choice of her book as 2011’s POBOD selection, author Deborah Guarino will be on hand for a special reading and book signing at 5:30pm on Friday, April 15th, at the Colorado Convention Center as part of the inaugural Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference. All are welcome to attend. Additionally, POBOD will feature a number of community readings by local celebrities across the City and County of Denver through Saturday, April 30th. Click here for a complete listing of POBOD events.

"It also served as a nice stage from which DPP could recognize some of its most-deserving providers as well as launch 2011's Preschool One Book, One Denver initiative. Click here to view pictures of the event. Given RMECC’s tremendous success, DPP hopes to again work to collaborate on the conference in the future.

DPP Releases Its 2010 Annual Report

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:48:00 GMT

The Denver Preschool Program (DPP) had a big year:

We enrolled our 15,000th student in the program,
We hosted the 2nd Annual Preschool One Book, One Denver,
And we moved office space.

For these and other DPP highlights, please find our 2010 Annual Report attached (big years require big files, so downloading may take a second - please be patient). Thank you for taking the time to read it.

Our annual report is a great opportunity to let you know how we are doing. As a taxpayer-funded program tasked with increasing access to quality early childhood education, we want to keep all Denver citizens informed of our progress and our successes. The Denver Preschool Program provides tuition credits for preschool for all Denver families and quality improvement grants to Denver preschool providers. We all know the positive impact early childhood educations has on both a student’s success and a community’s economic growth, and we are proud to be a part of this effort.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

El Programa Pre-escolar de Denver (DPP) tuvo un gran año:

Enrolamos a nuestro estudiante número 15.000 en el programa,
Fuimos los anfitriones del 2do. evento anual Preschool One Book, One Denver (Un Libro, Un Denver Pre-escolar),
Y, además, nos trasladamos de oficina.

Para conocer más de estos y otros puntos destacados del DPP, adjunto, sírvanse encontrar nuestro Informe Anual 2010. Les agradecemos por tomarse el tiempo de leerlo.

Nuestro informe anual es una gran oportunidad para dejarles saber cómo nos ha estado yendo. En su calidad de programa financiado por los contribuyentes, con tareas con un acceso cada vez mayor a la educación de calidad en la infancia temprana, deseamos mantener informados a todos los ciudadanos de Denver sobre nuestro avance y éxitos. El Programa Pre-escolar de Denver proporciona créditos de colegiatura para la etapa pre-escolar para todas las familias de Denver y subvenciones para la mejora en calidad a los proveedores pre-escolares de esta ciudad. Todos conocemos el impacto positivo que tiene la educación durante la infancia temprana tanto sobre el éxito del estudiante como sobre el crecimiento económico de la comunidad y estamos ciertamente orgullosos de ser parte de este esfuerzo.

Muchas gracias por su continuo apoyo.

Results of DPP's 2010 Evaluation Now Available

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:15:00 GMT

The results are in for the Denver Preschool Program’s 2010 evaluation report! The evaluation shows that DPP prepares students emotionally, socially and academically for kindergarten. DPP also helps parents keep their children continuously enrolled in preschool and improves the quality of participating preschools in the city. After conducting focus groups and interviews with parents and providers and analyzing data from standardized assessments, the results show DPP has grown into an important, quality presence in preschool education in Denver.

To learn more about DPP’s 2010 evaluation report, please access any of the following materials:

Press Release

Evaluation Fact Sheet (also available in Spanish)

Evaluation Highlights

Full Evaluation Report Part 1 (Parents and Providers) & Part 2 (Child Outcomes)

DPP CEO James Mejia Takes Leave of Absence; Eileen Piper To Serve As Interim CEO

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:48:00 GMT

Dear DPP Supporters, Providers and Friends,

This is to inform Denver Preschool Program's Providers, Partners, Parents and the City of Denver of James Mejia’s leave of absence as chief executive officer of the Denver Preschool Program (DPP). His leave will be effective on December 9.

During his absence, current DPP Director of Policy and Program Administration, Eileen Piper will serve as CEO of DPP. We are confident that Eileen’s focus on quality, innovation and collaboration will serve the organization well and believe the organization will continue to thrive under this new leadership.

With the help of Mayor Hickenlooper, James Mejia, the DPP Board and staff, and all of you, we have built a sustainable and model program that gives all Denver’s children the chance to succeed in education. By focusing on access and quality, we have created a new national standard for early childhood education and connected more than 15,000 Denver children with high quality preschool.

As James moves into a full-time campaign for mayor of Denver, we know he will remain inspired by the hard work of our preschool providers. Their commitment to education and the greater good serves as a constant motivation for many of us.

We look forward to DPP’s continued success as a national model for innovative education solutions under the leadership of Eileen.

Thank you for your support and commitment.

Sincerely,

John Plotkin
Board Chair, Denver Preschool Program

DPP Provider Updates: 2011-2012 Tuition Credit Scale; Implementation of CLASS; Summer Tuition Survey

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 22:33:00 GMT

2011-2012 Tuition Credit Scale

Last week DPP’s Board of Directors made a final decision on the 2011-2012 Tuition Credit Scale. The Scale itself is attached. Effective January 1, 2011, it will be used in the Tuition Credit Calculator that families use when they visit the DPP web site.

A few important notes about next year’s Scale:

The funding level behind next year’s scale is virtually the same as this year’s scale. In both years we anticipate distributing about $7 million, or 70 percent of DPP's overall budget, to the community in the form of tuition credits.

Next year’s scale is a ‘no deductions’ scale. This means that for those of you who care for children that receive funding from other public sources (CCCAP, CPP, or Head Start), these funds will not be deducted from the amount awarded to a family. In other words, what you see on the attached scale is what you get. This is different than DPP’s current process. We have received strong encouragement from the provider community as we considered shifting to this new Scale, and while we recognize there are benefits and detriments to every scale, we believe this scale will be simpler to use and a more effective tool for families and providers in their planning efforts.

We are also in the process of developing some support materials to help you to better understand the new tuition credit model, and to explain it to families, should they have questions. Dan and I are happy to respond to any questions as well. Both of us can be reached at 720-287-5055.

Implementation of CLASS

As the Denver Preschool Program continues to fulfill our commitment to quality early childhood education and positive child outcomes, we would like to inform you of an exciting new opportunity we have to explore child outcomes and provide professional development to a deeper extent. Over the remainder of this program year, the CLASS, or Classroom Assessment Scoring System, will be used within our child outcome evaluation study to further explore the quality level of interactions within DPP classrooms. The results of the CLASS observations will be used to inform DPP and our policy in the future. We want to emphasize that the observation data obtained through the study will not be used to evaluate individual programs in any way.

In addition to using the CLASS tool in our evaluation efforts, DPP coaches have been trained on CLASS and will also have the capability to utilize the CLASS to enhance professional development and quality improvement activities within programs. To keep you informed, we have provided some additional information on the CLASS (attached).

The Denver Preschool Program will offer a CLASS overview to providers at the Director’s Forum in February. Specific information for the overview will be sent out with the February training calendar. If you have additional questions related to the use of the CLASS in the child outcome evaluation study, please contact Mary Klute at 303-398-8556.

We’re excited about implementing the CLASS tool, and thank you for your continued efforts and work with Denver children.

Survey - Summer Tuition Impact

Thank you so much for taking the time to complete the Summer Tuition Credit Survey that we sent out last month. More than half of you completed the survey, and we received detailed, thoughtful feedback.

The feedback that you provided us was difficult to read. The impact of the elimination of the summer credits was very significant for many of you. Unfilled slots and lost income were some of your concerns. You also worried about the children and the advantage that they would lose by not participating in a quality program in the critical months leading up to their start in kindergarten.

Based on the feedback that you gave us, we’re taking several steps. First, we are polling parents on their preference as to whether they would prefer a 9 month tuition credit or a lowered 12 month tuition credit. Several of you spoke on your families’ behalf, so we wanted to strengthen your position with more detailed information.

Second, the staff is strategizing about scenarios and new ways that would allow summer tuition credits to be reinstated. While we can’t promise that this will happen in the near-term, we can promise that we are investigating methods that benefit you, benefit your families, and that are financially sustainable.

If there is one last lesson that we learned from the survey, it was hearing yet again what tireless advocates our providers are for their families. We are grateful for your continued partnership and look forward to working together to solve the summer tuition credit issue.

Sincerely,

Eileen Piper
Acting CEO
Denver Preschool Program

DPP News & Notes Fall 2010

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:10:00 GMT

An Update from the Denver Preschool Program

Fall 2010

Click below to download and view the PDF version of the latest DPP newsletter:

DPP Fall 2010 Newsletter (English)

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the first-ever Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference! April 15-16, 2011

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Web site: www.ecconference.com

The Denver Preschool Program (DPP) is proud to announce that we are partnering with the Colorado Head Start Association (CHSA), the Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC), and the Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado (ECEAC) to present the first-ever Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference on April 15th and 16th, 2011! This premier professional development event will take place at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver and promises to attract some of ECE’s foremost thought leaders, policymakers and practitioners. Anchoring the event will be two prestigious keynotes: Mr. Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, and Dr. Jerlean Daniel, Executive Director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). In addition to these nationally-renowned speakers, the conference will include a number of high-quality presentations on the various facets of ECE. Please visit www.ecconference.com for up-to-the-minute conference updates, and we look forward to seeing you in Denver in April!