After discussing the matter at multiple work sessions and a special meeting, the Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS) Board of Directors voted unanimously on March 6 to move toward opening a preschool class and applying to serve as a Colorado Universal Preschool, also called UPK, host…
— from a story in the weekly Pagosa Springs SUN, written by reporter Randi Pierce, March 9, 2023.
Colorado’s new Universal Pre-Kindergarten program — “UPK” — and the new Colorado Department of Early Childhood — “CDEC” — have apparently been struggling a bit, to meet expectations, although you might not get that impression from reading the press releases coming from the Office of the Governor.
The Polis administration refers to the program as “Universal Preschool”… but that acronym would typically be “UPS”, which might be confusing to young parents who order regularly from Amazon. So we’re going with “UPK” instead. (Acknowledging that certain professionals prefer to use acronyms devoid of linguistic meaning.)
“It’s incredible to see hundreds of school districts and preschools registering to be a part of Colorado’s effort to prepare our kids for the future,” said Colorado Department of Early Childhood’s Executive Director, Dr. Lisa Roy. “The enthusiasm is palpable with over 29,000 openings already available for kids in Universal Preschool Colorado. We expect the number to continue to grow…”
In order for the number of taxpayer-subsidized ‘slots’ to grow, we will need to see additional schools, child care centers, and private child care homes stepping up to the plate.
Enrollment for the start of the program — next September — began on January 17, and the enrolled children will have all, or part, of their tuition paid by the state of Colorado.
The landmark program is estimated to save Colorado parents an average of $6,000 a year, by subsidizing up to 15 hours per week of preschool tuition for children the year before they enter kindergarten… up to 30 hours per week for children with certain ‘qualifying factors’… and up to 10 hours per week for ‘qualifying’ 3-year-olds.
Pagosa Peak Open School may be among those, but probably not until the 2024-2025 school year.
Disclosure: I currently serve on the Pagosa Peak Open School Board of Directors as the Board secretary. This editorial reflects only my own opinions, and not necessarily the opinions of the Pagosa Peak Open School board as a whole.
Since my ‘nursery school’ experience at age 4, I’ve been involved with the American education system… off and on… as a student, as a parent, as a teacher, as a grandparent. I recall nursery school — vaguely — as a pleasant experience that involved painting easels, and a playground with various climbing structures that I challenged myself to master. I also learned to tie my shoes at nursery school — a skill that has served me well over the succeeding 66 years.
In 2015, my daughter Ursala assembled a group of young Pagosa moms with the goal of creating a innovative school — a publicly-funded charter school, as authorized by the state of Colorado — and I joined in the effort. The process was considerably more challenging than mastering the monkey bars in nursery school. The result was Pagosa Peak Open School, which opened its doors in September 2017.
From the 1993 Colorado Charter School Act:
Different pupils learn differently and public school programs should be designed to fit the needs of individual pupils and that there are educators, citizens, and parents in Colorado who are willing and able to offer innovative programs, educational techniques, and environments but who lack a channel through which they can direct their innovative efforts…
I documented one part of the Pagosa Peak creation process back in 2015, here in the Daily Post, when members of the Pagosa Charter School Initiative board were scattering themselves across the region, searching for innovative educational ideas. I wrote, back then, the introduction to an article series entitled “EDITORIAL: Precious Cargo”:
We are headed somewhere — not sure where, exactly — with some precious cargo. Some people, to be exact.
Along the way, the journey occasionally generates high anxiety.
The following photo captures the approximate spot on U.S. 550, driving over Red Mountain Pass, where my knuckles turn white and my knees begin trembling.
I’d driven this treacherous-looking stretch of scenic Colorado highway several times, and heart-stopping 25-mile stretch known as the Million Dollar Highway runs due north from Durango, through Silverton (elevation 9,320 ft.) and over Coalbank Pass and Molas Pass… before ascending to Red Mountain Pass (elevation 11,018 ft.) and descending through the Uncompadre Gorge, which drops off as a nearly vertical cliff from the edge of the winding highway.
A winding highway which, as you may notice, has no guardrails.
This was the part of the trip I was dreading, as we set out in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, March 31, on our way to Delta, Colorado — the site of Vision Charter Academy. The precious cargo, in my Toyota van that morning, consisted of my daughter Ursala, my two granddaughters Amelie and Simone, our friend Megan Riddle and Megan’s daughter Liberty.
Ursala, Megan and I serve on the board of directors of the nonprofit Pagosa Charter School Initiative, a new non-profit corporation that hopes to open a public charter school — open to all children and families, tuition-free — by the fall of 2017.
Megan, Ursala and I were on a research mission — visits to five Colorado charter schools in the Grand Junction area, hoping to learn more about how they are being operated and why they were started. The board of the Pagosa Charter School Initiative has planned trips to about a dozen charter schools in various parts of the state — schools founded upon various educational models…
You can get a sense of how I felt, in 2015, about Colorado’s education system, by reading the full editorial series, here. My feelings haven’t changed much since then.
Fast forward to 2023. Pagosa Peak Open School recently completed a $1.2 million remodeling effort to improve building security and air quality, thanks in part to the Colorado Department of Education ‘BEST’ grant program.
A group of volunteers, with funding and encouragement from the Colorado Health Foundation, is planning a new ‘Playground For The People’ which would enlarge and improve the school’s playground and open it for public use during non-school hours. This would be one of very few playgrounds in Pagosa’s populated uptown area.
Inside the Pagosa Peak building we find plenty of room for the school’s 120 students, although the rooms were originally designed as office spaces rather than classrooms, and their utilization has required a measure of creativity.
One of the largest rooms is currently used by the blended First-Second grade class, but it might also be an great space for an innovative preschool class. Someday.
“We are bringing high-quality preschool to Colorado kids, saving families thousands of dollars, and making sure Colorado students get a strong start in school,” said Governor Polis last month. “With so many qualified providers registered for UPK, we are excited to open the family enrollment process on January 17, giving families the chance to select the best provider fit for their preschooler…”
So… what’s the ‘best fit’? And what does he mean by ‘high-quality’?