Featured Center:
The Acorn School for Early Childhood Development
303-938-8233
www.theacornschool.org
Click on the Parents link to find The Acorn School today!
In the early 1990s, as more parents entered the workforce, an early childhood educator living in Boulder became increasingly aware that our nation’s children were being cared for by an ever-changing succession of inadequately trained and underpaid caregivers. In 1994, she addressed this concern by opening what is now known as the Acorn School for Early Childhood Development, a preschool education program incorporating best practices at the time: low teacher-child ratios, small group sizes, and qualified, well-trained caregivers. The need for high quality early childhood education has only increased in recent years, and at the Acorn School we have consistently had a long wait-list for our program. In keeping with recent research, our program now includes: highly skilled teachers; age-appropriate curriculum; stimulating and safe setting; language-rich environment; and warm, responsive interactions between staff and children.
Kids enjoying art time at the Acorn School!
The Acorn School strives to provide the highest quality care to the children of Boulder County. We are proud to have recently received a three-star rating from Qualistar, a Colorado nonprofit organization nationally recognized for its continuous quality improvement model. The Acorn School became an accredited childcare center with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in 2006. The U.S. Local Business Association presented the Acorn School with the Best of Boulder award in day care in 2008. Finally, in August, we were certified by the Partners for A Clean Environment (PACE) Program for efforts to protect the environment, the health of our employees, and the children in our care. PACE is a collaborative program between Boulder County Public Health (BCPH), local municipalities, and local businesses. The overall goal of the program is to reduce the use of hazardous materials and to reduce the amount of waste that comes from business, government, and household activities in Boulder County.
A young girl smiles at the Acorn School commencement ceremony.
The overarching goals of the Acorn School are to provide a high quality early childhood care and education and to advocate for higher standards in the field of early childhood education. Throughout the foreseeable future we will continue to: provide high quality early childhood education; take steps to actively encourage staff retention, so that children can establish ongoing relationships with their caregivers; offer tuition scholarships to insure socio-economic diversity; and disseminate information related to child development to our staff, parents and the larger community.
Today, we provide 63 infants, toddlers and preschoolers with a high-quality, full-day, full-year developmentally appropriate early childhood education program (ECE). We expect that nearly all children in our program will continue to meet appropriate developmental milestones. We raise money annually for our tuition scholarship program because of the importance we place on socio-economic diversity. We expect to maintain a balance of children from low, moderate and high-income families, with approximately 40 percent of our students receiving some amount of financial assistance.
The Acorn School for Early Childhood Development is a 501 (c) (3) corporation. We receive grants and foundations from various local and state organizations including the Denver Foundation, the Daniels Fund, Community Development Block Grants, and the Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation, among others. For more information, contact Matt Eldred, Executive Director at 303-938-8233, director@theacornschool.org, or visit us on the Web at www.theacornschool.org.