ECE

Kindergarten

Calendars

Locations

Early Education Department Staff

Goals and Mission

Early Education Department
1330 Fox Street 3rd Floor
720-423-8212 Phone
720-423-8213 Phone
720-423-8208 Phone
720-423-8260 Fax

ECE

(Early Childhood Education)

• ECE Immunization Requirements
• ECE Goals
• ECE Parents
• ECE Eligibility

The Early Childhood program provides developmentally appropriate educational services for four-year-old children in Denver. It is housed in 88 elementary schools and 16 community agencies. The program serves approximately 3500 pre-kindergarten children.

The Early Childhood program provides a safe and nurturing environment that promotes the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of young children while responding to the needs of families. Children learn by doing. Children acquire knowledge about the physical and social world in which they live through playful interaction with materials and people. Teachers monitor behaviors to assess the developmental level of each child and to provide sequential instruction to accommodate their growth. Activities are designed to develop children's self-esteem and positive feelings toward learning. The curriculum and adults' interactions with children are responsive to individual differences.

The young children's literature-based curriculum provides a rich environment which supports active learning experiences facilitated by the teacher. Children enrolled in the program attend class for two hours and forty minutes each day, five days a week. Exceptions to this are made for staff development and parent education meetings.

Supervision of the program is accomplished by each school's principal and the Early Education Director and her Area Specialists. The classroom staff/student ratio is 2:15 or 2:20 depending on the funding source.

Denver Public Schools is a delegate of the Denver Great Kids Head Start Program. There are 15 Head Start classrooms in 11 schools that serve 255 students throughout the school district in an elementary school setting. Families must meet income qualification guidelines.

"The Head Start program has a long tradition of delivering comprehensive and high quality services designed to foster healthy development in low-income children.  Head Start grantee and delegate agencies provide a range of individualized services in the areas of education and early childhood development, medical, dental, mental health, nutrition, and parent involvement. In addition, the entire range of Head Start services is responsive and appropriate to each child and family's developmental, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage and experience." (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, p.1)