General

How can I find out more about DCP?

Please explore this site first to learn about our philosophy, available classes and tuition.

You are welcome to contact our office at 303-777-6867 or email Executive Director Mary Nelson at mary@dcpplay.org.

We offer tours of the school during the day on Thursdays and Fridays. If you would like to schedule an admissions phone call, please contact Mary Nelson at 303-777-6867 or email mary@dcpplay.org.

We invite you to learn more about our program during one of our Open House scheduled for January, 2024. Learn more and RSVP here

Click here to join our Prospective Families Email List. You will receive email communications with dates and times for the annual Open House, Lottery process and enrollment information for the next school year.

What is the Open House?

Every year before the lottery opens, DCP opens its doors to its community and prospective families who would like to learn more about our wonderful early childhood community. 

In advance of the admissions lottery for the 2024-25 school year, we will be offering an in-person Open House on Wednesday, January 17 from 6-8 PM. 

During the Open House, prospective and interested families will have the opportunity to meet our administrative team, educators, members of our Governing Board and members of the community. This is a wonderful opportunity to get more information on the cooperative structure of the school, parent involvement, and our play-based philosophy. Current families are also encouraged to attend if they would like to spend time learning more about the classroom their child will be joining the following year. The Open House event is open to the whole family, and while a RSVP is helpful it is not required! 

How do I apply for enrollment at DCP?

Every year, DCP enrolls students through our admissions lottery. Anyone wishing to enroll in the school for the following school year must participate in the lottery. Current students are guaranteed placement, and participate in the lottery to determine their schedule. Alumni and new families participate in the lottery for placement. Lottery fees are nonrefundable, and a lottery application for the next school year must be completed for each student (including twins).  

For the 2024-25 school year, lottery applications available online at www.denvercooperativepreschool.org beginning at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, January 17, 2024. Lottery applications will be available through 5:00 PM on Friday, January 26, 2024. Lottery applications may be completed at any time during that window. On each application, you will have the opportunity to indicate your first, second, and third choice of classes. The status of your application (placement in a class or waitlist) will be confirmed when lottery results are posted. For the 2024-25 school year, we will post lottery results on Friday, February 2, 2024 at 5:00 PM. Families who miss the lottery may request placement on any class waitlist.

What is the tuition schedule?

Tuition and Fees for the 2023-24 school year can be found here. We anticipate that tuition and fees for the 2024-25 school year will be voted on by our Governing Board and posted in early February, 2024. Please see the list of important dates and deadlines for the current school year on the enrollment page.

How do I pay tuition? When is tuition due?

DCP will collect a deposit of 20% of annual tuition on May 1, 2024. This will serve as a nonrefundable deposit to secure your placement for the 2024-25 school year. The remaining tuition payments will be collected from September, 2024 through March, 2025 and can be made one of two ways:

Families will have the option of completing an EFT (electronic funds transfer) form with their enrollment paperwork. This authorizes DCP to automatically deduct monthly tuition from your account for the months of September-March.

Families choosing not to complete an EFT form should notify our office manager, Shandon Wells at shandon@dcpplay.org that they will be paying by check. Tuition checks can be mailed to the school, or placed in the black mailbox outside the front door of the school. Tuition is due on the first of each month. Late fees are accrued on the 11th of each month.

Lottery

It’s lottery time again! Hopefully this will help answer questions for any families new to our community as well as those of you who are veterans and might just need a reminder!

What are the dates of the lottery for the 2024-25 school year?

The lottery for the 2024-25 school year will go live online at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, January 17. It will remain open through Friday, January 26 at 5:00. We will post results on Friday, February 2 at 5:00 PM.

What is the Open House? Is it only for new families?

Every year before the lottery opens, DCP opens its doors to its community and prospective families who would like to learn more about our wonderful early childhood community.

In advance of the admissions lottery for the 2024-25 school year, we will be offering an in-person Open House on Wednesday, January 17 from 6-8 PM.

During the Open House, prospective and interested families will have the opportunity to meet our administrative team, educators, members of our Governing Board and members of the community. This is a wonderful opportunity to get more information on the cooperative structure of the school, parent involvement, and our play-based philosophy. Current families are also encouraged to attend if they would like to spend time learning more about the classroom their child will be joining the following year. The Open House event is open to the whole family, and while a RSVP is helpful it is not required!

For our current families, we have a Town Hall scheduled for Wednesday, January 24 at 7:00 PM. We will offer dedicated time during the Town Hall to answer questions current families may have regarding the lottery and programming for next year. Current families are also welcome to join the Open House event, but the content of these evenings will be more directed towards families unfamiliar with our school.

What will programming look like for the 2024-25 school year?

For the 2024-25 school year, the school day will once again run from 8:30 AM-3:00 PM. Families will have the choice between a two-day, three-day, or five-day program. Please see below for a weekly schedule, and visit www.denvercooperativepreschool.org for more detailed information about classroom programming!

Class Days/Times

Please note that for the 2024-25 school year, we will align all classes so that the two-day class occurs on Thursday/Friday, and the three-day class occurs on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. *This is a change from previous years when the 2-day toddler class occurred on Monday/Tuesday!*

Age Ranges

In previous years, we have posted age cutoffs for each of our classrooms at lottery time. Students who are at least two-years-old by September 1, but not yet three-years-old, are placed into our toddler classroom. Students who are three-years old by September 1 but not yet four-years-old are placed into our young preschool classroom, and students who are four-years-old by September 1 are placed into our Older Preschool classroom.

In the last several years, we have seen an increased demand in both our toddler and young preschool classrooms, with significant wait lists for both age groups at lottery time. In an effort to serve as many current and prospective families as possible, we have worked with the Denver Fire Department and child care licensing to drop the age requirement on our downstairs classroom so that we can keep age ranges flexible entering the lottery, and create cohorts of children in a similar age group but not necessarily require that all students celebrate a third birthday prior to entering the young preschool program.

We will continue the requirement that students be two-years-old by September 1 of the school year to enroll at DCP, however it is possible that children who are two years, six months and older may be placed into the young preschool program, and students who are three years, six months and older may be placed into the older preschool program. We will ensure that children are placed into classrooms with peers in their age group. This change has been made to remain responsive to a high demand for toddler and early preschool programming.

What are the expectations for parents and caregivers supporting in the classroom?

We remain steadfast in the belief that connecting with children’s families in the classroom space is critical to holistically supporting the development of young children.

We expect that families who join the cooperative want to participate in the classroom community, and for the 2024-25 school year will require that each family volunteer a set number of times per semester based on the number of days their child attends school. Educators in each class will develop a variety of time slots of varying lengths to accommodate family schedules, some as short as 30 minutes. Please see below for requirements by class schedule:

• 2 day = 2 volunteer sessions per semester

• 3 day = 3 volunteer sessions per semester

• 5 day = 4 volunteer sessions per semester

As a community, we honor a diversity of family structures and welcome parents and caregivers to come in and spend time in our classrooms. Connecting with the adults who are central to your child's life in the classroom setting enriches our community and supports our educators in learning more about your child's experience outside of preschool. We believe that spending time in the classroom is supportive to parents and caregivers understanding our constructivist philosophy and our approach to social-emotional education, and therefore request that at least half of the required volunteer time is fulfilled by a parent or caregiver who takes a central role in raising the child. We welcome other adults (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) to join for the other required sessions. While we honor the critical role that nannies, au pairs, and babysitters play in our children's lives, and we welcome them to spend time in the classroom, we respectfully request that required parent volunteer time not be fulfilled by an individual who is employed by your family in a caregiving capacity.

Over our sixty-year history we have proudly evolved to reflect the families that make up our community. If you would like to discuss our parent volunteer policy please do not hesitate to reach out to the Executive Director.

If we’re already enrolled in the school, why do we have to participate in the lottery? Are we guaranteed a spot for next year?
Current families are guaranteed a spot in the school as long as they would like to remain at DCP. Current families participate in the lottery to determine their class schedule for next year.

Is there any way of increasing our chances of getting into our first choice for schedule?
The lottery system is the best way to ensure fairness in placement among current and new families. Helpful hints with using the lottery system include being open and flexible with your class choices including both days and times. Be sure to rank your choices in your true preferred order, as this is how classes are filled. Keep in mind that ranking the same day/time option as your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice is NOT encouraged. By selecting only one option, you run the risk of that class filling up before your child’s lottery number comes up, leaving no other options for placement for your child in another class.

How much is the application fee?

The application fee is $100.00 per child. It is nonrefundable.

How will I be charged for the application fee?

When you complete our online lottery registration form you will be taken to Paypal. You may pay your application fee using a credit card through Paypal (regardless of whether you have a Paypal account or not). Families wishing to pay their application fee by direct debit/ACH (current families only) should speak with Manager of Operations, Shandon Wells, shandon@dcpplay.org.

The application fee is the only fee we allow to be paid with a credit card - families who are offered enrollment will be asked to set up direct debit/ACH information in our tuition payment system prior to February 16, 2024 when Intent to Enroll fees are due.

What does it mean to rank my class day and time preferences?

Each class has three day/time choices (2-day, 3-day, and 5-day). You must rank the class day/time choices according to your preference. Example: if ONLY the 2-day class will work for your child, rank it as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice. If you want to be considered for all class options, be sure that for each choice you are given, you specify a different class day/time.

Keep in mind that ranking the same day/time option as your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice is NOT encouraged. You run the risk of that class filling up before your child’s lottery number comes up, leaving no other options for placement for your child in another class.

What happens if I don’t get my first choice?

If you get your second, or third choice for schedule you will automatically be placed on a waitlist for the choices above where you were placed. We see quite a lot of movement and shifting between the time class lists are posted and when school starts next fall. Feel free to call the office at any time to discuss your waitlist position.

What are the options for siblings? Should I select “Same/Day Time Schedule” or “Best Class Choice Available”?
If you are registering more than one child you will want to be sure to pay attention to these options on your lottery form. An explanation of the two options is below:

SAME DAY/TIME SCHEDULE option. Select this if it is most important to you that all of your children are on the SAME SCHEDULE. For example, if your children do not all receive placement in their 1st choice classes, they will be moved into classes that will allow for attendance at the same time. This means that if CHILD A receives their 1st choice, but CHILD B receives their 3rd choice, CHILD A will be moved DOWN into a less preferred class in order to align the sibling schedules. Please keep in mind there is typically a fair amount of movement in the wait and class lists prior to the start of school.

BEST CLASS CHOICE AVAILABLE based on their Lottery pick option. Select this if it is most important to you that all of your children get the BEST CLASS CHOICE AVAILABLE based on their Lottery pick. For example, if one child gets their 1st choice and the second child gets their 3rd choice, they will be placed into those respective classes even though they are on different schedules. By selecting this, you are betting there will be movement in the class lists that may eventually lead to all children being placed in their 1st choice classes.

I registered two children and one received a class placement, but the other did not. What should I do?
Don’t give up! Confirm the placed child! We place students by status and then lottery/waitlist number. If you accept and confirm the class placement for the first child, their status becomes, “Current” and the waitlisted child’s status automatically updates as, “Sibling of a Current Student.” This bumps the second child up on the waitlist ahead of alumni, church, and new families, giving them a much better chance of getting a spot depending on their lottery/waitlist number and the length of the class waitlist.

What if I have twins? Is there a chance they could be placed into different classes?
For families with twins, each child will be assigned their own individual lottery number. The twin who receives a higher lottery number will actually move the twin who receives a lower lottery number up, so that both twins are paired together. When it comes time to fill classes, the twins will be added to a class together. It is for this reason that we do not enroll to our licensed capacity in each classroom, we will over enroll a class by one student if twins are next on a wait list.

When will tuition rates for the 2024-25 school year be posted?

Our Board of Directors will approve 2024-25 tuition rates at our Governing Board meeting on February 8, 2024. In the past year, the Governing Board has endeavored to maintain consistent tuition increases year over year at 5%.

For reference, 2023-24 tuition rates can be found here.

What is the fee structure for the 2024-25 school year?

For the 2024-25 school year, the fee structure will be as follows:

• $100 application fee - this non-refundable fee covers both lottery applications and wait-list registrations after the lottery has closed. This fee will be charged to both current and new families)

$500 Intent to Enroll fee - due February 16, 2024 at 5:00 PM. This fee is non-refundable. $300 from this deposit will be applied to tuition

What if I would like to apply for financial aid?

Financial aid applications for the 2024-25 school year will be available on our website after the lottery has closed. Financial Aid applications will be due by February 23, 2024. Financial aid is only for monthly tuition payments, not for annual fees. For more information about our financial aid program visit the financial aid section of our website.

What happens after I am offered a placement? When do we pay an intent to enroll fee (formerly the enrollment confirmation fee)? When do we begin paying tuition for 2024/25?

Families will be notified of class placements and wait list positions on Friday, February 2 at 5:00 PM. Enrollment confirmations and the nonrefundable $500 intent to enroll fee will be due on Friday, February 16, 2024.

Completing your enrollment confirmation and paying this fee will indicate that you plan to return to the school and secure your spot for the 2024-25 school year. The next payment due will be the 20% deposit. These payments are also nonrefundable and are due on May 1, 2024.

The Governing Board is currently reviewing tuition payment plans for the 2024-25 school year in an effort to offer a wider range of payment plan options. Payment plans for 2024-25 will be announced after the Governing Board meeting on February 8, 2024.

I have a student who will be in Young Preschool or Older Preschool in 2024-25 and I live in Denver County, tell me more about DPP (Denver Preschool Program). Denver Cooperative Preschool is also part of the Denver Preschool Program (DPP), which provides a monthly tuition credit to some families of three-year-olds and all qualified families who have a child in his or her last year of preschool before being age eligible for kindergarten. To participate in this program, a school must embrace excellence in education, utilize developmentally appropriate practices, and achieve a Quality Rating. DCP’s current Quality Rating through Colorado Shines is a Level 4, though we are awaiting a new rating which we expect at the end of January, 2024.

• The program is open to all families of four-year-olds in their last year of preschool regardless of income, and we STRONGLY encourage all Older Preschool families to apply!

• DPP also offers tuition credit to some income-qualified three-year-olds - we encourage eligible families of three-year-olds to apply.

For more details, visit www.dpp.org and Colorado Shines.

Families who will have a child who is at least three-years-old in 2024-25 should plan to apply for DPP by April 15, 2024 if they would like to know their DPP award prior to the May 1st due date for the 20% deposit. For more information, contact Shandon in the DCP office at shandon@dcpplay.org.

Waitlist

How do I get on a waitlist?

You can get on a waitlist one of three ways:

Families who participate in the lottery and receive a class placement, but not their first choice, will automatically go on the waitlist for their first choice class. If you receive your third choice class, you go on the waitlist for both the first and second choices.

Families who participate in the lottery and do not get a class placement are automatically placed on waitlists for all classes they preferenced.

Families who miss the lottery may contact our Director to inquire about specific class availability and waitlists. You may also go online and request placement on any waitlist; your waitlist application will be placed in the order it is received.

We’re on a waitlist – how does that work?

DCP will call you if a spot becomes available for your child and you will have 48 hours to accept or decline the offer. Your application will be kept on the waitlist until the current school year is finished. You are welcome to contact us to check your waitlist status.

I did not get the results I wanted. How much does the waitlist move?

We typically see significant movement on our waitlists, particularly between mid-February and early May, after lottery results are announced and before the May deposit deadline. Some classes move more than others. Also, a single move in one class can have a snowball effect in several classes depending upon class preferences and waitlist position. Historically, the class roster when class starts in September is markedly different than when first announced with lottery results. We have exhausted waitlists in some classes in prior years. So hang in there and wait to see what happens!

Enrollment

DCP has a spot for my child in a class – what should we do?

Once offered a spot, you need to confirm your enrollment  by signing the enrollment contract emailed to you. You will also need to complete all required paperwork and pay the intent to enroll fee and 20% tuition deposit for your child to attend school. If you are offered placement through the lottery, you will be asked to complete the enrollment contract emailed to you and pay the intent to enroll fee to DCP by February 16, 2024. A 20% tuition deposit will be due by May 1, 2024. Please note that we do not make reminder calls and if the deadline is missed your child will lose their place in class. Families receiving placement off the waitlist will be sent individual deadlines for confirming enrollment and paying fees.

Once our child has a spot at DCP and we complete the Enrollment Contract, what happens next?

The next step will be to pay the intent to enroll fee and 20% tuition deposit by determined date to secure your child’s spot in class. You will be emailed enrollment paperwork that will be due back in late May for those placed through the lottery, and before your child begins for those placed off the waitlist. In August you will be invited to attend a DCP back-to-school meet & greet with your child to meet the DCP staff and families. At that time you will make an appointment for your child’s teacher to come to your house for a getting-to-know-you (home) visit. The teacher will spend about 20 minutes with you and your child so that the teacher is familiar to your child when they start school.

I’m a new DCP family enrolling after the lottery has closed and I have been offered a spot for my child in a class, what should I do now?

You will be sent an email with an enrollment contract to confirm your enrollment with a due date specific to your offer. Please complete the online enrollment contract emailed to you and pay the enrollment fee by the deadline indicated in your offer. This email will also specify your deadline for paying the tuition deposit and facilities fee. Once your enrollment has been confirmed you will be sent an email with enrollment paperwork and medical forms.

New Families

What happens at the getting-to-know-you (home) visit?

One of the educators from your child’s classroom will spend about 20-minutes with you and your child so that the educator is familiar to your child when they begin school. Your child may want to show their teacher a favorite toy, read a beloved book, or share their favorite space in your home or backyard.

Are we expected to participate in fundraising?

DCP asks that all families meet the parent participation and fundraising requirements of the cooperative to the best of their ability and in a way that makes sense for their family.. Families may participate in fundraising in the following ways:

Donation of items to the annual auction. The auction is the schools largest fundraiser and a fun night out for adults. Tuition and fees do not cover our daily operating costs, and therefore it is important to our community that all families participate in the auction and other fundraising efforts. Items can include gift cards, wine, local experiences, vacations, or an opportunity to share your expertise in a particular area (crafting, cooking, hosting a game night, etc.)

Participation in fundraising events throughout the year.Family friendly and adult only fundraising events will be scheduled throughout the year. You are encouraged to participate in all events you are able to.

What are DCP’s Scholarship guidelines?

Every year, DCP places a portion of the preschool’s earned income in a dedicated financial aid  fund for confidential scholarship awards. This fund is designed to assist families who might not otherwise be able to enroll in the preschool and to support families who are experiencing financial difficulties. DCP requires that all families, regardless of the scholarship status, meet the parent participation and fundraising requirements of the cooperative to the best of their ability.. The names of all applying for and/or receiving scholarships are confidential  and are known only to the Manager of Operations, and on an as-needed basis the Executive Director. Identifying information will be redacted before applications are reviewed. 

 For more information on the topics in this FAQ please see the DCP Handbook.

Denver Cooperative Preschool does not discriminate by race, religion, gender, age, national origin, gender identity, ethnicity, color, political beliefs, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, economic or military status in either the hiring of employees or the inclusion of members to the school.