Free Preschool in Colorado Starting Today

Parents in Colorado can enroll their kids to free preschool starting today.

The new Universal Preschool in Colorado launches today, allowing every child in the state a free preschool experience a year before they start kindergarten.

With Colorado believing that early learning is a critical part of public education, their lawmakers passed a state-funded preschool called the Universal Preschool Program. It will provide Colorado children a half day or 15 hours a week of pre-kindergarten instruction, aiming to prepare them better for success as they officially go to school the next year and reduce achievement gaps.

What's more, is that parents need not pay for anything. Their children can have an early learning experience for free as the state will fund the program yearly for up to 29,360 children, allowing families to save an average of $6,000 annually on child care.

Parents are excited

Part of Gov. Jared Schutz Polis' value statement expressed support for how every child in Colorado should start school with the same shot at success, and the new program would do just that.

"High quality preschool programs are known to aid in a child's development and to have social, academic, and economic benefits that are carried with that child throughout their life. The launch of this program builds on Colorado's long-standing commitment to children and families and helps ensure that they are valued, healthy and thriving," the state's Department of Early Childhood stated.

Numerous research has documented the benefits of high-quality early learning, CBS News reported. Data have shown that children are more likely to read earlier, be more academically proficient, seek and eventually attain higher education, and earn more throughout their lives.

Parents and staff of Escalante Biggs Academy in Denver, one of the schools that signed up to offer their services for the program, know all these benefits by heart. Thus, both are excited about the program.

Preschool teacher and mother Connie Trujillo has been preparing to enroll her son in the program. This will be her first time having a preschooler, yet she "sings the praises of preschool" to other parents. As a preschool teacher, she knows its positive impact on her son and other Colorado children, emphasizing social skills and the opportunity to connect and build friendships, which COVID has robbed from other kids.

What parents need to do

Parents and children must apply on the state portal (https://upk.colorado.gov/) and through their school district or early childhood provider to receive the free preschool benefit.

According to The Denver Gazette, parents will find a list of the schools that have signed up to participate in the program on the portal. They can choose up to five preschool options, from licensed community-based, school-based, to home-based preschool settings, and rank them based on their preferences. The kids will be matched with more or less 850 providers coming mid-February.

There is no deadline for the submission of applications. However, parents are encouraged to sign up early.

Children with "certain qualifying factors" are eligible for additional 15 hours on top of the program's regular schedule, allowing these kids to experience full-day programming. Three-year-olds with qualifying factors can also have part-time or ten hours of preschool programming.

The Universal Preschool is expected to serve 30,000 children for its first year of service, serving about 50 percent of its four year old's population.