Early Childhood Education

The Early Childhood Learning Initiatives

The Boettcher Foundation has invested in two programs aimed at improving educational opportunities for children from the earliest ages. Whether it is the facilities where they learn or the professionals who educate them, the Foundation has pioneered in funding successful programs that are proving to make a difference.

Qualistar Colorado

In 2006, the Boettcher Foundation recognized a critical gap in funding for early childhood education centers and pioneered a unique method of addressing the gap.

Administered through Qualistar, the Colorado Capital Fund (QCap) was created to support quality-related capital improvements in Colorado’s early childhood learning centers.  These improvements range from classroom expansion to playground improvements and health and safety improvements.

Qualistar is an ideal partner for helping us meet this goal since it is an organization whose mission is: “To advance the school readiness of Colorado’s children by measuring and improving quality early childhood education (ECE) and to be the resource connecting parents to quality programs.”

Program Successes:

  • Over 180 capital grants awarded to early learning centers in 45 Colorado counties
  • More than 9,000 children have benefited
  • Early success has attracted additional funds, such as a $600,000 grant from the Gates Family Foundation
  • Qualistar’s funding model, which awards capital grants up to $50,000, has resulted in documented improved quality ratings in early childhood learning centers

Clayton Early Learning Institute

The Boettcher Foundation understands that educators have a huge impact on the quality of a child’s early learning, potentially setting the stage for a lifetime of learning success.

That’s why we have invested more than $3 million to help provide model educational and training opportunities to early childhood educators throughout the state, through both the Clayton Early Learning Institute and a Colorado Community Colleges initiative.

Program Successes:

  • More than 3,500 early childhood professionals have been trained enabling more than 15,000 children at over 650 sites to receive improved educational experiences
  • 14 of 16 eligible Colorado Community College Early Childhood Departments are participating in initiatives to improve teacher training for community college students
  • Clayton Early Learning was named one of 10 National Centers of Excellence by the Department of Health and Human Services