FAQs

​​If your child will attend through the Colorado Preschool Program or the tuition program, your child must be school age (three or four years old) before October 1st and may start on the first day of preschool even if their birthday falls after that the first day of school. If your child will attend through the Special Education Program, your child can begin preschool on or after his 3rd birthday, even if that falls after September 30th.

You can state your preference, and we will do our utmost to accommodate it, however, final location will be determined by a location committee that is tasked with balancing classrooms according to age, gender, language and needs. Families will be notified in early August the name of the child’s teacher.

The Colorado Preschool Program funds children who are determined to have risk factors that may cause a child to not be ready for kindergarten. Children who are four years old can qualify based on income alone. Children who are three can qualify if they have two eligibility factors in addition to income. Factors include: low birth weight, educational level of the family, need for language development (such as English-langua​​ge support for non-native speakers), unintentional unemployment, social services, teen parent, frequent relocations, and more.

It shouldn’t be: we offer two levels of scholarship for families who cannot afford the full tuition rate—t​uition is free or half price, depending on household income.

Many of the children enrolled in our preschool classrooms are very independent in their bathroom needs. However, you do not need to be toilet trained to attend a BVSD preschool. Children are encouraged to use the bathrooms throughout the day as needed and during scheduled bathroom breaks. Teachers monitor healthy bathroom habits such as flushing and hand washing. Many children are in various stages of toilet training including diaper use. Diaper changing takes place in a manner that meets health and safety guidelines. When toilet accidents that require a change of clothing happen, children are assisted to change into dry clothing. Soiled clothing is placed in a plastic bag to take home. If your child comes home in borrowed clothing, we ask that you wash and return the clothes as soon as possible. Families are asked to supply diapers and wipes. Please discuss a system for supplying a change of clothing, diapers and wipes with your child’s teacher if needed. If a child is not toilet trained, the preschool staff will do the following to support toilet training transitions from home to school:

1. Develop a schedule with the parent/guardian.
2. Give multiple opportunities during a preschool session to use the bathroom and develop toileting routines.
3. Do not wait for children to tell you they need to use the bathroom. Give reminders to go on a “toilet trip”.
4. Develop a visual schedule for children learning to use the bathroom independently.

In order to respond to COVID-19, BVSD preschools are moving to a hybrid model of blended learning: two days of in-person learning and two days of home learning per week. Normally, we run four days a week and children who drop in and out do not have access to the richness of the four-day curriculum so we stress the importance of maintaining attendance. Furthermore, children who are funded by the Colorado Preschool Program are mandated to attend all days unless they are ill, to maintain funding.

If your child is attending through the Colorado Preschool Program and lives inside of district and outside of walking distance (1 mile) from the school, s/he can get transportation. If your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), s/he may be eligible to receive special transportation. Eligibility for special transportation is determined by the IEP team at an IEP meeting. If your child is attending through tuition program and has a sibling who is attending either through the Colorado Preschool Program or on an IEP, you can apply for transportation with a Space Available request. Space Available requests are granted if there is room for a preschool StarSeat on a bus and pre-existing route between the two stops that you require.

No cost, it is free.

Not if your child has already been accepted and attending during his/her first year of preschool. If you applied for a tuition-based seat through the lottery and did not get in this year, and you wish to enter the lottery again, you will need to submit a new application.

No. Parent/Guardians of preschool children need to enroll in the school of residency or apply for open enrollment status at a school of choice. For more information go to www.bvsd.org for kindergarten enrollment dates, options, and application process.

Full-day preschool is only located at the Mapleton Early Childhood Center. This location has limited enrollment slots. BVSD will study the feasibility of adding more full-day preschool options once funding and facility space becomes available.

If your child will have an Individualized Education Plan through the Office of Special Education, you must live within the district to attend. If you do not live in district, you will be referred back to your school district of residency. If your child will attend through the Colorado Preschool Program or through the tuition-based preschool program, you do not have to live in district. However, out-of-district children will be considered for a seat once in-district children have already been placed. Please note that out-of-district children will have to pass a developmental screening before being able to attend. If the child does not pass, and it is determined at any time by a staff member that the child may have a suspected disability, the district will ask you to seek special education screening, evaluation, and services in your district of residency.

Not necessarily. Learning a second language is not a disability. However, if your child is experiencing developmental delays that are independent of language acquisition, the child may qualify for Special Education services. Please contact Child Find at 720-561-5078.

No. Child Find is intended to locate and identify children with educational disabilities and not to screen for kindergarten readiness.

No. The district is required to offer free, appropriate, public education (FAPE) to children with special needs and parents cannot choose which part of FAPE they would like to accept.

It’s free, because of the district’s obligation to offer free, appropriate, public education (FAPE) to children with special needs.

Yes, we have a reduced tuition amount for families who qualify. Be sure to answer the tuition assistance questions in the online application.

A major emphasis of the preschool curriculum is social and emotional and literacy development, designed to prepare young children for the social and learning environment of kindergarten. If your child needs help with social skills and you cannot afford tuition, you may qualify for the Colorado Preschool Program.​

Families looking for full-day preschool enroll children in Head Start, local community preschool programs, home-based child care, nanny care, and/or family and friend networks.

Yes, the Early Childhood Education, Literacy, and Language departments have collaborated to align practices between preschool and kindergarten in the district. We use the Creative Curriculum and Fountas and Pinnell phonics instruction materials. All PK classrooms use the same letter name cards, sound introduction, and letter/sound movements as kindergarten classrooms to ensure students academic language and introduction to letters and letter sounds are the same district-wide. This will help preschool students transitioning to kindergarten. In preschool children need a wide variety of direct hands on experiences to help them learn how letter names and sounds connect to written word.

Your child’s health history will be reviewed by the ECE nurse or a school nurse and a health care plan will be developed if needed.