Colorado Preschool Program Information
About CPP
CPP is managed by local school districts and their preschool advisory councils. Each participating school district is given a predetermined number of half-day slots to serve eligible children. Two types of slots can be allocated to districts: CPP and ECARE. CPP slots can be used to serve preschoolers and ECARE slots can be used to serve preschoolers or provide full-day opportunities for eligible kindergarteners. As defined by CPP statute, children are determined eligible for CPP and ECARE by individual and family risk factors. School district staff members work with families to gather information about their child’s development and learning, as well as life experiences. Children who are eligible for CPP attend high-quality early childhood programs. The programs may be located in school district settings, local child care centers, community preschools or Head Start programs.
History of CPP
- 1988 - CPP was authorized by the Colorado General Assembly to serve 2,000 four and five-year-olds in need of language development.
- 1992 - General Assembly passed Senate Bill 92-189. This bill resulted in the continuation of the Colorado Preschool Program as a permanent program and expanded the target population to not only include children in need of language development but also children who lack overall learning readiness due to significant individual and family risk factors, and children being served by Social Services as neglected or dependent children.
- 2013 - Colorado General Assembly approved an additional 3,200 new kind of CPP slots called Early Childhood At-Risk Enhancement (ECARE) slots. ECARE allows districts the flexibility to provide half-day preschool, full-day preschool, or full-day kindergarten.
- 2014 - 5,000 additional ECARE slots were approved, bringing the total possible number of children who could be served in the CPP program to 28,360.
Additional Information
- CPP Quick Facts
- District Slot Allocations
- Legislative Reports
- Early Childhood At-Risk Enhancement (ECARE)
- CPP Acronym Glossary
- We in the education community can get easily overwhelmed by acronyms.
Click on this glossary link for a list of as many acronyms as we could collect.
- We in the education community can get easily overwhelmed by acronyms.
Additional Resources
- For Administrators:
- Colorado Preschool Program for Administrators - one page with the most pertinent facts for principals and other school leaders on CPP.
- A Community Partner's Guide to CPP
- Full Day Kindergarten Resources
CPP once included full day kindergarten as part of the program. With the ECARE expansions of 2013 and 2014, limited slots have been allocated to fund a full-day program.
