Investing in Colorado’s Early Education Ecosystem

How have ideal learning environments expanded in Colorado over the past five years? And what are some of the key lessons learned along the way?

A 5-Year Partnership

A partnership between Trust for Learning and Early Milestones Colorado that kicked off in 2018 has transformed Colorado’s early childhood landscape through movement building, thought leadership, and direct investments. The initiative has served more than 1,000 children across the state, and thousands more will benefit in the years to come, owing to investments in the policy landscape, educator development, classroom materials, and curriculum implementation.

Investing in Colorado’s Early Education Ecosystem: A 5-Year Campaign for Ideal Learning recounts the history and context of the partnership, impact to date, and important insights gained along the way. We hope that administrators, policymakers, and funders can draw upon it to advance ideal learning policies and environments in Colorado and other states.

READ THE REPORT

     Working alongside Trust for Learning and Early Milestones has been tremendous. The mission-focused vision and tenacity of the teams across these organizations have brought to light new opportunities and initiatives, grounded in equity, that will lead our state and our country forward toward a more equitable and successful future for children.” —Dr. Lisa Roy, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Early Childhood

Impact of Direct Investments

In March 2022, the Trust and Early Milestones announced a $100,000 grant opportunity to support school- and community-based programs to strengthen their alignment with ideal learning prior to implementation of Universal Pre-K in Colorado. These investments seeded individualized, experiential, child-centered learning approaches. Only programs that accepted public funding were eligible, and grants primarily went to providers serving historically marginalized communities.

Here’s a list of the six programs helped to date:

• Denison Montessori, Denver Public School’s largest traditional Montessori school and a Title 1 school
• Eagle County School District (ECDS), a district in central Colorado with a focus on creating blended classrooms
• Eagleton Elementary, a preschool through 5th grade school in Northwest Denver that implements the Tools of the Mind curriculum
• YMCA of Northern Colorado, one of the largest providers of early care and education in the area
• Paradise Place, a preschool in Crested Butte that embraces the principle that the time of childhood is valued
• The Montessori Collective and Goldrick Elementary in Denver partnered to convert an early childhood education classroom at the school into an ideal learning environment

Read more about them in the report.