• Education

  • Early Excellence
  • Denver Preschool Program
  • K-12 Education
  • The Charter Fund

• Economic Opportunity

  • Post-Secondary Education
  • Employment Skills
  • Asset Building
  • Social Networks

• Earned Income Tax Credit

  • Economic Stimulus Payment
  • Tax Sites
  • The Piton Foundation's Tax Credits for Working Families Campaign
  • Tax Help Colorado
  • Low Income Taxpayer Help
  • 2008 Tax Year Promotional Materials
  • Filing Options Available
  • The Earned Income Tax Credit in Colorado
  • Learn More about the Earned Income Tax Credit
  • Employers: Help Your Workers Get Their Tax Credits
  • More Tax Credits
  • Non-Profits: Help Your Clients Get Their Tax Credits
  • The Child Tax Credit: Extra Credit for Many Working Families!
  • Still Another Tax Benefit for Families! The Child and Dependent Care Credit
  • Education Tax Credits for Families: The Hope Credit
  • Education Tax Credits for Families: The Lifetime Learning Credit
  • Saver's Tax Credit: Workers Can Save for Retirement and Reduce Income Taxes

• Strengthening Communities

  • Support to Community Organizing

EARLY EXCELLENCE

Early Excellence is an early childhood education program for low-income children -- birth to age three -- and their families. Its goals are to increase the school readiness of children and increase the involvement of parents in their young children's education.

Launched by The Piton Foundation in 2003, Early Excellence was initially offered free to families with children up to age five in four Denver Public Schools -- Harrington and Mitchell elementary schools and the Wyatt-Edison Charter School in the Cole neighborhood, and Fairview Elementary in the Sun Valley neighborhood. The core program promoted parent engagement in their children's health, pre-academic skills and social-emotional development through curricula focusing on language, family literacy, structured and unstructured play, math skills, motor and social-emotional learning, and health and nutrition. These lessons were provided through home visits, the Invest in Kids' evidence-based social-emotional training, play groups, activities for preschoolers, and kindergarten tutoring.

Early Excellence also offered families additional programming throughout the school year. This included field trips to the zoo and Children's Museum, training for home child-care providers, dental services, vision screenings, immunizations, English-as-Second-Language (ESL) classes, and cultural celebrations.

After five years, Piton determined that the cost of operating the program as originally conceived was too high to make it sustainable or replicable. As a result, today the program operates in adapted forms at the four schools. For example, Mitchell Elementary is experimenting with a new model featuring parent-led play groups and parenting activities. Fairview Elementary has integrated the Early Excellence materials into its family literacy program. Harrington Elementary is fundraising to sustain the program in its original form, and Wyatt-Edison has transformed into a new child care center located at the Phillips Center.

LEARN MORE

A comprehensive overview of early-childhood education research, needs, programs and their impacts, and funding within the City and County of Denver. This was prepared by The Piton Foundation in 2006 to educate city policy makers and other key stakeholders in Denver about early care and education and the challenges of delivering high quality services to Denver's children.

Excellence Fact Sheet

Off To A Good Start

RELATED LINKS

Children's Defense Fund
Receive free e-mails about child care, child health and other topics; get free parenting resources; join child advocacy campaigns.

Colorado Children's Campaign
Keep up to date on issues and legislation affecting children; get KidsCount data; learn about the Gates Small Schools Initiative.

Colorado Division of Child Care
Get tips on choosing a child care provider; learn more about the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program for low-income families and child care licensing.

Connect for Kids
The Benton Foundation's massive clearinghouse of kid-related news and programs; get free weekly email updates.

I Am Your Child
Get parenting tips, order parenting videos and materials, get on-line expert advice.

National Center for Infants, Toddlers & Families Zero to Three
Learn about brain development, early literacy and more; get resources for both professionals and parents.

The National Child Care Information Center
Get national child care data, research and links to US government programs from The National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC).

Qualistar Early Learning
Get information on Qualistar ratings, quality improvement, child care resources and referral network partners, and professional development.

Smart Start Colorado
Smart Start Colorado is a statewide alliance of early childhood partnerships working together to create a comprehensive system for children birth to age eight and their families.