The roots of Denver Preschool Program (DPP) date back to the early 1990s when Denver Mayor Wellington Webb prioritized children’s issues, including early education. While his sales tax initiatives in 2000 and 2001 to support children’s needs and early education failed, it planted the seed.
John Hickenlooper, who was elected Mayor of Denver in May 2003, ran on a platform that included early childhood education and high-quality preschool. The Mayor’s Early Childhood Education Commission, the Mayor’s Leadership Team for Early Childhood Education, working groups and a steering committee created five priorities for an early childhood program for Denver:
- Be independent of City government but accountable to elected leaders and tax payers;
- Focus on quality rating and improvement of preschool programs;
- Empower parents to choose the early education program best for their child;
- Be universal and open to all children in Denver; and
- Prioritize children in the year just before kindergarten (most commonly, 4-year-old children).
These principles became the pillars of what would become the Denver Preschool Program.
Champions of Denver Preschool Program
Early Champions
- Eric Anderson
- Larry Atler
- Cody Belzley
- Michael Bennet
- City and County of Denver
- Tom Downey
- Sam and Nancy Gary
- Gary Community Ventures (previously the Piton Foundation)
- Susan Gallo
- Anna Jo Garcia Haynes
- Mary Gittings Cronin
- Maria Guajardo Lucero
- Lynea Hansen
- John Hickenlooper
- David Kenney
- David Miller
- Zack Neumeyer
- Barbara O’Brien
- Adele Phelan
- Linda Reilly
- Lisa Roy
- Eric Sondermann
- Rose Community Foundation
- Gerrit Westervelt
DPP CEOs
- Elsa Holguín (2019-current)
- Jennifer Landrum (2013-2018)
- Eileen Piper (2011-2013)
- James Mejia, Founding CEO (2007-2011)
DPP Current Board of Directors
- Andrea Albo, Board Vice Chair, President & CEO of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD)
- Keshia Allen Horner, Board Member, Founder and Principal, Mariposa Analytics
- Erin Brown, Board Chair, Chief Impact Officer, Colorado Health Foundation
- Nathaniel Cradle, Board Member, Co-Founder, Venture for Success Preparatory Learning Center
- Chris Daues, Board Treasurer, Partner, RubinBrown Assurance Services Group
- Chyrise Harris, Board Member,Vice President, Communications & External Affairs Gary Community Ventures
- Adeeb Khan, Board Member, Executive Director Denver Economic Development & Opportunity – City and County of Denver
- Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, Board Member, Denver City Council, District 8
- Lydia Prado, Board Member, Executive Director, Lifespan Local
- Zaki Robbins, Board Secretary, Director, Fennemore Craig, P.C. Law Firm
- Anne Rowe, Co-Owner & Principal, La Vie and Company
DPP Previous Board of Directors
- Rosemarie Allen
- Paul Asper
- Michael Baker
- Carol Boigon
- Albus Brooks
- Susan Burks
- Carmen Carrillo
- David Cole
- Sarah Daily
- Tandy Dilworth
- Alicia Economos
- Stacie Gilmore
- Art Gonzalez
- Judith Ham
- Anna Jo Haynes
- Gloria Higgins
- Zach Hochstadt
- Samantha Jacobson
- Rebecca Kantor
- Jennifer Rodriguez-Luke
- Penny May
- Amber Münck
- Teresa Pena
- John Plotkin
- Diana Romero-Campbell
- Amanda Sandoval
- Janice Sinden
- Susan Steele
- Erin Trapp
- Chris Watney
- Roxane White
- Mike Yankovich
Mayor’s Leadership Team on Early Childhood Education
- Larry Atler
- Michael Bennet
- Rutt Bridges
- Dick Campbell
- Leanna Clark
- Peter Coors
- Alex Cranberg
- Walt DeHaven
- Tom Downey
- Patty Fontneau
- K.C. Gallagher
- Anna Jo Haynes
- Pat Grant
- Patrick Hamill
- Rollie Heath
- Charlene Hill
- Angela Hutton-Howard
- David Kikumoto
- Ron Montoya
- Tryg Myhren
- Zack Neumeyer
- Barbara O’Brien
- Monica Pleiman
- Doug Price
- Linda Reilly
- Caroline Schomp
- Mark Smith
- George Sparks
- Charles Tafoya
- Robert Tointon
- Ronald Williams
- Daniel Yohannes
Mayor’s Early Childhood Education Commission (MECEC)
- Celeste Archer
- Phyllis Bigpond
- Richard Garcia
- Nita Gonzales
- Gerie Grimes
- Peter Groff
- Karol Holcomb
- Elsa Holguin
- Bruce Hoyt
- Marva Livingston Hammons
- Meera Mani
- Rosemary Rodriguez
- Diana Romero Campbell
- Dave Smith
- Gerrit Westervelt
From Local Vision to National Model
Colorado's Early Childhood Journey
Learn more about Colorado's commitment to early childhood education. With dedicated funding and programming for early care and education, the State of Colorado and City of Denver have paved the way for others.
Support for Colorado children actually began in the mid 1960s with the state’s adoption of Head Start, a federal program for low-income children.
State efforts gained traction in 1987 as the First Impressions Initiative was created as part of the Governor’s Policy Office and led by Colorado First Lady Bea Romer. This initiative laid the groundwork for shaping policy and governance rooted in the first years as a foundation for life; the primacy of the parent-child relationship; and a community-based approach to support families.
In late 1988, Colorado passed legislation for preschool funding for young children with language delays. A primer for what was to come, this effort was named Colorado Preschool Program (CPP) and expanded to children with other risk factors. While enrollment steadily increased, both Head Start and CPP only served a small portion of children throughout the state, creating an essential gap in support.
In 1997, the Consolidated Child Care Pilot Program was established through Senate Bill 97-174 with 12 pilot communities tasked with consolidating funding sources, increasing collaboration, improving quality and responding to the needs of working parents, with the goal of creating a seamless early childhood system. The program was expanded to six additional communities in 1999 and then to all communities across Colorado in 2007. Today they are now known as early childhood councils and 36 exist throughout the state.
As state-level momentum continued, Denver took the lead on bringing the vision to life locally in the 1990s (see above). Without a national or state blueprint as a guide, DPP created an early model for preschool funding, quality programming initiative and implementation at the local level. That partnership became essential: the state’s belief in the mission and commitment to legislative support alongside the real-time, on-the-ground leadership and implementation of a local ballot initiative. The Denver model quickly became the how-to guide for communities across the state. When Proposition EE, a voter approved nicotine tax measure to support Universal Preschool, passed in 2020, the state had a jump start on implementation by expanding and scaling the proven success of the Denver Preschool Program model to students across the state.
Today, Colorado has not only evolved its early care and education efforts and policies, it’s now a leader across the nation, with:
- Early childhood councils serving every community across the state.
- A robust and comprehensive quality improvement and rating program, Colorado Shines, ensuring the safety, health, and educational support for children in early care and education.
- A common Early Childhood Colorado Framework, which is a shared vision that Colorado is a place where all children are valued, healthy and thriving, guiding all programming.
- Free full-day kindergarten, which freed up thousands of preschool slots when it went into effect in 2019.
- A dedicated state-level organization, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, established in 2022 and committed to overseeing programs and services for Colorado’s youngest children, their families and the professionals who serve them.
- Universal Preschool (UPK), offering Colorado 4-year-olds at least 15 hours of free, voluntary preschool per week during the year before they enter kindergarten.
Two Decades, Milestone by Milestone
Voters Support Preschool for All
Denver voters recognize the need for public support for Denver’s young learners and approve Question 1A by 1,815 votes, establishing a .12% sales and use tax to support preschool for all Denver families.
DPP Becomes a Nonprofit
Denver Preschool Program (DPP) is established as an independent nonprofit and starts creating the right infrastructure to support the effective and efficient use of the .12% sales and use tax, including tuition credits, quality improvement and community outreach.
Funding Grows
Sales tax revenue begins accruing for DPP to distribute to families and preschool providers later in the year.
The Start of a Data-Driven Approach
Knowing the need for long-term program data, DPP partners with Clayton Early Learning’s research and evaluation team to understand student progress during preschool, kindergarten readiness and the impact of receiving tuition credits on academic outcomes through the end of high school.
Family Support Begins
The first Denver families receive preschool tuition credits, which are distributed to providers on their behalf. Families receive $439 per month, on average. Many families share that the savings in preschool costs allowed them to better afford basic needs, like rent, food and clothing.
Strategic Leadership
The first permanent Executive Director of DPP is brought onboard, grounding the organization for the first program year of direct support.
First-Generation iPhone Released
After being unveiled in January, the first generation iPhone hits the market in June 2007, forever changing how people interact with technology (and each other).
Great Recession Begins
The Great Recession starts, signaling a global economic downturn, and lasts until June 2009.
A Strong Start
599 Denver four-year-olds receive DPP tuition support in the first program year (2007-2008), totaling $748,142. Denver preschool providers receive $945,595 in quality improvement funding.
Barack Obama Elected President
Barack Obama is elected as the 44th President of the United States. He is the first African American in the role.
10X Growth
Nearly 5,000 Denver 4-year-olds receive tuition support for preschool, helping their families save $438 per month, on average, in DPP’s second program year (2008-2009), a nearly 10-fold increase since the first year.
Rocky Mountain News Closes
The Rocky Mountain News, the region’s oldest and second highest circulation newspaper, publishes its last edition. The Denver Post survives as the city’s only major newspaper.
DPP Hits 10,000
More than 10,000 Denver 4-year-olds to date benefit from preschool tuition support since DPP’s inception.
The Burj Khalifa opens
The Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure to-date, opened in Dubai.
Hickenlooper Becomes Governor
John Hickenlooper assumes office as the 42nd Governor of Colorado.
Missy Franklin Sets World Record
Missy Franklin of Centennial sets her first swimming world record at the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) Swimming World Cup in Berlin.
20,000 Students!
DPP celebrates supporting 20,000 4-year-olds with total tuition support for preschool, helping their families save a combined $39,723,092 since DPP was formed.
Supreme Court Upholds ACA
The Supreme Court upholds the Affordable Care Act.
DPP Students Track Ahead
Our first cohort of preschoolers take the third-grade Transitional Colorado Achievement Program (TCAP). Results show that 64% of third-graders who participated in DPP posted advanced or proficient reading scores compared to 58% of students that did not receive DPP tuition support.
Voters Prioritize Preschool, Again!
Denver voters see the need for quality preschool and pass a sales tax reauthorization measure that increases the tax to .15%. The increase is used to address the growing demand of students in full- and extended-day programming, to reinstate and sustain year-round tuition support and to keep up with the rising cost of preschool.
Trader Joe’s Arrives in Denver
Trader Joes opens its first doors in Denver, bringing cult favorites to Denver.
Denver Union Station Reopens
Denver Union Station reopens marking the conclusion of a $56 million redevelopment into a regional multimodal transit hub.
Year-Round Support Returns
Understanding the challenges families face in affording preschool, we reinstate year-round tuition subsidies. We had moved away from year-round support during the recession due to lower sales tax revenue.
“Hamilton” Premieres Off-Broadway
“Hamilton” first premieres Off-Broadway at The Public Theater.
Broncos Win Super Bowl 50
The Denver Broncos defeat the Carolina Panthers 24 to 10 to win Super Bowl 50.
TikTok Launches
TikTok launches internationally.
DPP Celebrates 10 Years of Student Success
The 2017-2018 program year marks DPP’s 10th cohort, or group of students, entering preschool. Our annual research and evaluation study of students who benefited from DPP tuition support shows up to 92% of students are kindergarten ready, 82.4% meet or exceed expectations for vocabulary and 74.4% are considered proficient in math. Children show a statistically-significant improvement from fall to spring in terms of their initiative, self-regulation and attachment, as observed by teachers.
Family Support Increases 10%
In an effort to better support Denver families, we implement the greatest one-time increase to our tuition credit scale (10.7%) in our organization’s history.
DPP Launches Zero-Cost Scholarship
Seeing that families with the most financial need are still struggling to cover preschool costs, we pilot a gap scholarship program (which would come to be known as the DPP Scholarship) that reaches families living at or below 300% of the federal poverty line.
Jared Polis Becomes Governor
Jared Polis becomes the 43rd Governor of Colorado.
Multilingual Online Application Launches
In an ongoing effort to make applying for and receiving preschool tuition support easier for all families, we develop our highly-anticipated online application, which is available in English, Arabic, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese. We have plans to add six more languages by fall 2021.
Students in Foster Care Approved for Highest Support
Knowing the barriers children in foster care face, we determine that all 4-year-olds in foster care who are enrolled in a DPP-participating preschool program in the year before kindergarten are categorically eligible for the highest level of DPP tuition support.
Scholarship Expanded to Meet Need
Our research shows that many families still struggle to cover preschool costs. As a result, we expand our Gap Scholarship (DPP Scholarship) to pay for 100% of preschool tuition costs for families with lower incomes who do not have access to other funding sources, like Head Start and the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program.
Pandemic Response Begins with Provider Grants
Seeing how stretched preschool providers are during the pandemic, we provide $785,350 in Strengthening Grants to help offset their significant pandemic-related financial losses that result due to decreased enrollment and increased operating expenses.
“Parasite” Makes Oscar History
“Parasite” becomes the first ever non-English language film in Oscars history to win Best Picture.
COVID-19 Pandemic Begins
The world goes on lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Preschool for 3s Pilot Launches
With the understanding that two years of preschool provides even more benefits to children, we launch Preschool for 3s, a two-year pilot program running for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 program years. The program targets 3-year-olds from families with the highest level of need. Approximately $2.5 million per year in tuition credits is given to families through DPP-participating community-based preschool providers.
DPP Celebrates First Class of Graduates
Our first tuition credit recipients graduate from high school.
Research Shows Deeper Family Impact
Research from interviews with 319 families who participated in the recent program year shows that more than two-thirds of families with the most need who receive DPP tuition credits are better able to afford basic needs, like food, medical care and housing.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
After being delayed for a year due to the pandemic, the 2020 Olympic Games take place July 23 – August 8, 2021. No general spectators were allowed to watch 339 events across 33 sports.
DPP Leads Local UPK Efforts
As a leader in preschool funding and quality improvement, DPP is selected as the Local Coordinating Organization (LCO) for Colorado Universal Preschool (UPK) in Denver. We serve as the primary contact for Denver families and preschool providers for the statewide program.
DPP Supports Educators Directly
As a direct response to the workforce shortage needs, together with Denver’s Office of Children’s Affairs (OCA) we offer stipends to support the financial well-being of educators and acknowledge their critical work to support Denver children and families. The stipends are intended to show appreciation to staff and teachers for their amazing work.
Avalanche Win Stanley Cup
The Colorado Avalanche defeat the world champion Tampa Bay Lightning four games to two to win their third Stanley Cup.
Preschool for 3s Becomes Permanent
After a two-year pilot, the value of and vast need for an additional year of preschool tuition support is apparent, especially for families most in need. As a result, we make our Preschools for 3s program a permanent offering for Denver families.
Research Shows Tuition Credits Lower Stress
Through ongoing research, parents share that receiving DPP tuition credits reduces their financial strain and stress, which leads to better parent-child interactions and improved kindergarten readiness.
DPP Reauthorized Indefinitely
Denver voters overwhelmingly see the value of public support for early childhood education and pass the indefinite reauthorization of a .15% sales tax to meet the growing demand for funding.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour
Taylor Swift launches the Eras Tour, which becomes the highest-grossing tour of all time with more than 10 million people around the world attending the tour.
Community Outreach Deepens
Knowing the value of connecting with families in their communities, we expand our outreach, sharing information about DPP with more than 1.2 million people across 68 local events throughout the Denver community.
DPP Providers Lead Ratings
DPP supports all providers in improving their quality, and 87% of DPP providers earning a Colorado Shines rating of 3 or higher. The Colorado Shines Quality Rating & Improvement System (QRIS) rating system assesses all licensed child care and early education preschool providers in five areas including child safety, staff support and professional development, parent support and sound business practices.
UPK Launches Successfully
Approximately 6,341 Denver children participate in the first year of Colorado Universal Preschool (2023-2024), receiving nearly $14,000 in combined preschool tuition support from Colorado UPK and DPP. Families share that with the additional support, they are able to advance their careers, go back to school and better afford basic needs.
Jokić Wins Third NBA MVP
Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets wins his third NBA MVP Award in four seasons.
Community Outreach Becomes More Focused
We continue to refine our outreach, particularly to those who face barriers to preschool, such as language access, systemic inequities or financial challenges. As a result, 80% of community outreach connections are with families from historically underrepresented communities.
DPP Takes a Bigger Role in Strengthening Workforce Gaps
Through a robust workforce research study, we deepen our understanding of the workforce and their career paths, working conditions, overall well-being, salary tiers, satisfaction with compensation, financial stability and professional development. These insights will inform our programming to support educators and, in turn, young Denver learners and their families.
Trump Begins Second Term
President Donald Trump begins his second term in January, becoming only the second U.S. president in history to win two nonconsecutive terms.
Colorado Sesquicentennial Stamp
The Colorado statehood sesquicentennial postage stamp is unveiled. The forever stamp was designed by USPS art director Derry Noyes and features a photograph of 13,826-foot (4,214 m) Jagged Mountain in the Weminuche Wilderness by Colorado nature photographer John Fielder.
Beyoncé Makes Grammy History
Beyoncé extends her record as the most-awarded artist in Grammy history and wins her first-ever album of the year award for “Cowboy Carter.” She also becomes the first Black woman to win country album of the year.
Colorado’s 150th & America’s 250th
Colorado celebrates its 150th year of statehood (sesquicentennial), and America celebrates 250 years since signing the Declaration of Independence (semiquincentennial).
Denver Preschool Program: 20 Years and Counting!
For two decades Denver Preschool Program has invested in the futures of Denver’s youngest learners — growing from 599 students in our first year to tens of thousands of children and families served. Here’s to the next 20 years of building brighter futures, one child at a time.