To have the tools… To learn to grow… To build bridges… To touch the stars…

Open Enrollment Information The Auraria Early Learning Center is located at the 9th Street Park & Colfax Avenue. The educational community consistently recognizes the Auraria Early Learning Center as a high quality, early childhood care and education program. All of the Center's programs are fully licensed by the Colorado Department of Human Services. Additionally, the Center is rated by Qualistar. The Auraria Early Learning Center provides full and part time programs for children 12 months to 8 years old. It also provides a fully accredited kindergarten program and a summer camp program for children through age 8. The Center serves the students, faculty and staff of the Auraria campus that includes the Auraria Higher Education Center, Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver and University of Colorado Denver. Auraria Early Learning Center PO BOX 173361 Campus Box N Denver, Colorado 80217 p.303-556-3188 f.303-556-8173    Our Center and Programs are here for you and your child. Center Hours and Schedules are established with a busy family lifestyle in mind. Nourishing Meals are provided so parents have one less thing to do before they leave the house. We have a comprehensive Communication Plan that keeps you informed about your child's day and center events. Parental Involvement is important to your child and us, so please feel free to visit our Center and discuss our programs. Programs Our programs are designed to meet each child's individual needs, to foster development of intellectual and social skills and to provide a safe, nurturing environment. The curriculum uses the latest approaches and techniques for working with children while implementing developmentally appropriate practices. Children are enrolled in classrooms according to the following age groups: Toddler Rooms: Child must be 1 year old and walking Young Preschool Rooms: Child must be at least 3 years old Older Preschool: Child must have turned 4 years prior to October 1 Private Kindergarten: Child must have turned 5 years old prior to October 1     Hours & Schedule The Center is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. A complete schedule of holidays and teacher-in-service days when the Center is closed is available upon request. Summer Hours 6/1/10 - 7/31/10 Mon - Fri 7:00am - 6:00pm 7/5/10 Mon  Closed Meals Breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack are provided at no additional cost. All meals are nutritious and served family style. These everyday activities provide opportunities for children to learn social graces and exercise self-reliance. Summer Menus Menu 1 Menu 2 Menu 3 Menu 4 Communication Plan Center to parent communications is a very important aspect of a quality child care program. Parents want to know what's happening with their children and want to be kept informed of special events and changes. Our center takes pride in its communication plan, which includes the following components: Weekly classroom newsletters Monthly classroom calendars Monthly Center newsletters Parent/Teachers conferences each semester Classroom and Center events every semester. Parental Involvement Our goal is to develop a partnership with parents in order to provide the best possible programs for your child. We believe that by working together, as partners in education, we can foster your child's positive attitude toward learning. We encourage you to feel a part of the Center by becoming actively involved. Parents are welcome to observe and participate in the children's classroom activities at any time. We also have parent events and workshops throughout the semester and we encourage all parents to attend. Qualistar Rating Developed by 150 early childhood experts, the Qualistar Rating measures quality in licensed early learning programs, both home and center based that serve children birth to kindergarten. Child Care Providers volunteer to have trained quality rating specialists spend several hours in their programs collecting information and evaluating their program. In other cases, Child Care Providers are required to have annual quality evaluations because of funding sources. We recently recieved an updated Qualistar rating, maintaining our 3 Star (out of 4) high quality rating. Rating Components In the Qualistar Rating process, programs are evaluated on five different quality components. These components include: Learning Environment Family Partnerships Training and Education Adult-to-Child Ratios and Group Size Accreditation