Preschool is a classroom experience for early-childhood students. It is offered for a variety of 3 and 4 year olds, who turn 4 and 5 during the school year, including typically developing children, children with special needs, and children with families that qualify for scholarships or Universal Preschool with the state of Colorado. It is designed to promote kindergarten readiness and life-long success. Our preschool is offered from August to May. Our preschool is also licensed and inspected by the state, health department, and fire department.
At Spark! Discovery Preschool, our preschool classes fulfill this role. Our preschool programs include:
- AM SESSION: Monday – Thursday AM sessions for 3-4 year olds, 8:30 – 11:10 am
- PM SESSION: Monday – Thursday PM sessions for 3-4 year olds, 12:25 – 3:05 pm
- FULL DAY SESSION: Monday – Thursday for 4 year olds who will attend kindergarten the following year, 8:30 am – 3:05 pm
PRESCHOOL TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS: All of our preschool teachers have at least a Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Education, and most of them have a Masters Degree in areas such as Special Education for Early Childhood, Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education, or in Early Literacy. They are paid at the same rate as any other K-12 teacher in SVVSD, have the same benefits options, and follow the school district calendar because they are qualified as teachers through the Colorado Department of Education.
Standards-Based learning and teaching programs are primary teaching resources in preschool. Creative Curriculum®, is used to create a learning environment that supports learning through play and discovery in a variety of interest centers. This curriculum also helps teachers develop appropriate small and large group activities to enhance child development.
Units of Study, including different STEM units of study (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), are integrated throughout each school year. See information about STEM programming by clicking here.
Each child’s progress is observed and documented during three assessment periods through the GOLD Assessment® in all developmental and content areas: Social-Emotional, Physical-Gross Motor, Physical-Fine Motor, Language, Cognitive, Literacy, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and the Arts. These reports are shared during Parent-Teacher Conferences, as a School Readiness Plan and an Individual Learning Plan is developed for each child.
Preschool teachers also implement FUNDATIONS curriculum, which is also used in grades K-5 in SVVSD, is a multi-modal approach to reading, spelling, and handwriting; it makes learning to read fun for students and lays the groundwork for life-long literacy through a proven approach to Structured Literacy that is aligned with the science of reading.
HEGGERTY PK PHONEMIC Awareness lessons are also used to supplement literacy instruction and focus on the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words; the curriculum teaches 8 skills: rhyme, onset fluency, phoneme isolation, blending, segmenting, adding, deleting, and substituting. In SVVSD preschool teachers also use utilize
PATHS curriculum in preschool, which is curriculum to develop prosocial skills and emotional skills, increasing the overall wellness of preschoolers. See more information here.
At Spark, we use THE BIG IDEAS OF EARLY MATHEMATICS, a text for teachers of preschool early math, and BUILDING BLOCKS, a McGraw-Hill preschool-focused math curriculum, to supplement learning, planning, assessment, and lesson design.
A quality early childhood experience includes a valued partnership between the school and family. Our program is family-focused and facilitates child learning in all developmental areas.
Childcare is a way for working parents to have their children taken care of during the day in an extended manner. The program is licensed and inspected by the state, health department, and fire department. The childcare program is typically open additional days to the school calendar, during business hours (from 7 am – 5:30 pm, Monday – Friday) and includes a summer program not typically offered through preschool. At Spark! Discovery Preschool, our three Wrap Around childcare rooms fulfill this role. Childcare is open when preschool is traditionally closed, including a summer program. This is a tuition-based program, and we also accept Colorado Child Care Assistance Program. Wrap Around childcare programming offers a routine schedule including a variety of learning through play and center-based activities, science, mathematics, language arts, circle time, crafts, fine/gross motor development, rest time, outdoor and indoor activities, and snacks and meals. Staff generally have qualifications to supervise staff through the department of childcare licensing, including roles such as director, group leader, program aid, etc. During childcare, staff members offer enrichment activities to enhance academics offered in preschool class and activities.