DPP’s Enrollment Incentives
Denver Preschool Program’s Enrollment Incentive Program, $20 for 20 minutes, is back for the 2022-2023 school year!
Engage, Enroll and Earn!
We’re excited to announce that Denver Preschool Program is relaunching its enrollment incentive program, $20 for 20 Minutes. This program is designed to help Denver County community- and home-based providers to (1) engage more families, (2) enroll more children, and (3) earn more funds to use for their early childhood education program.
It’s simple: For every child enrolled in your program who is approved to receive tuition support from Denver Preschool Program by Oct. 1, 2022, for the 2022-2023 program year, you’ll automatically receive an extra $20 for your school for the 20 minutes it takes a family to fill out a DPP application! Payments will be distributed in full to schools this fall once $20 for 20 has ended.
Please view this FAQ and don’t hesitate to reach out to our enrollment team at info@dpp.org or 303-595-4377 with any questions you may have or if there’s anything further we can do to support you in earning these incentives. Thank you for your continued partnership in enrolling families for the upcoming school year!
DPPEnroll
All DPPEnroll Tools NOW LIVE!
We are pleased to announce the launch of new tools in DPPEnroll. You’ll be able to:
- One-top shop for marketing your program
- Manage DPP enrollments
- Report attendance
We also included an enhanced DPP Find A Preschool tool for parents! We will be offering webinars to demonstrate the various features of DPPEnroll on a regular basis. We encourage you to register for an upcoming webinar here.
A step-by-step guide to using DPPEnroll can be found here. For questions please contact us at info@dpp.org or 303-595-4377
DPP Update
As you may have heard, Denver Preschool Program applied for the Local Coordinating Organization (LCO) for Denver. We are excited and still waiting for the Department of Early Childhood announcement. We’ll share more information when we have it. Thank you for your continued support!
Universal Preschool Input Sessions
As you may have heard, Universal preschool is coming to Denver in the fall of 2023. Denver’s Early Childhood Council planned online input sessions for the community to share ideas for implementing Universal Preschool in Denver. We encourage you to share this flyer with your staff and families to keep the momentum going with more focus groups.
ECE Insights – Toolkit
As a part of the Denver Community Plan process, ECE Insights is hosting community-wide listening sessions for early care and learning program directors, early childhood teachers and caregivers, families, and other early childhood specialists and advocates. The input received through this process will directly inform Denver’s plans for universal preschool.
To ensure as many people have the opportunity to give their input about universal preschool, we are requesting the Steering Committee to help us engage organizations in hosting their own input sessions in July. ECE Insights has developed a Toolkit for organizations to host internal or community-facing universal preschool input sessions.
The Toolkit documents attached include:
EQUITY CORNER
July is Disability Pride Month, so it’s a perfect time to address the topic of disability with young children. People with disabilities account for nearly one in five Americans and still experience significant amounts of discrimination at every stage of life. Talking to young children about disabilities can help them better understand why some people look, talk, act, or move a little bit differently.
Show young children how to talk about those differences in a respectful manner. Please give them the language to use to talk about someone who has a learning disability or a physical disability. Don’t try to convince them that someone with a disability is just like them. Instead, acknowledge that they are different. The word disability is the clearest way to talk about people with disabilities because it is associated with rights, laws, and history. It is not a negative word.
Further, using words like “differently-abled” infer that a person is highly uncomfortable using the term disability. This and avoiding the topic in some situations could inadvertently send the wrong message that it’s taboo. It’s a normal life for many, and disability is not a bad word.
Young children are naturally curious. And when they see differences in people, say, at the grocery store, they may point it out and want to know why. Why is that person in a wheelchair? Why is that boy missing an arm? Why can’t she speak? Educate young children about disabilities in a matter-of-fact manner. Say things like, “They were born with one arm, So they have a prosthetic arm that doctors made for them.”
In addition, here are some small ways to make your classroom more inclusive:
- Books: Young children love learning through literature. Here is a list of books that talk about disability. https://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/disabilities/
- Environment: Arrange the classroom furnishings so all children—including children with visual or physical disabilities—can move and maneuver around the room and learning centers by themselves. Make sure materials are within reach. Watch for classroom clutter and unstable flooring (throw rugs that move easily) that make the classroom space inaccessible for some children.
- Routines: The best routines have a predictable beginning, middle, and end. Use visual supports, such as pictures or props, to teach children routines, help them stay engaged, and aid them in transitioning between different activities.
- Noise: Managing noise in the classroom plays an essential role in learning and behavior. Loud classrooms affect a child’s ability to understand increasingly complex language. Carpets and other sound-absorbing materials, like wall hangings, heavy drapes, felt, and chairs with tennis balls on the bottom of metal legs, all help reduce classroom noise.
- Materials: Modifying materials in the classroom can have a significant impact on independence. Add pencil grips to crayons and markers to make them easier for children with motor difficulties to hold. Gluing small knobs to puzzle pieces makes them easier to pick up.
The law mandates inclusion, but meaningful education about disabilities goes beyond legal compliance. Creating an environment where all children feel included and valued is necessary to ensure that students receive a comprehensive education that they can apply to the real world.
An inclusive culture begins with understanding that children can identify differences instead of pretending those differences don’t exist.