The Power of a Free Lunch

Of the 36,755 Denver Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools students living in the Corridor during the 2010-2011 school year, 78.7 percent – 28,940 kids – participate in the free and reduced lunch (FRL) program, which is an indicator of poverty. Lunch is more than food. It’s essential fuel for learning and social growth. Proper nutrition is tied to children’s performance in school. And malnutrition, especially during early childhood, has been linked to discipline problems and lower IQs. Students Denver Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools who qualify for FRL under-perform compared to their peers. In 2011, 43 percent of… Read the Rest

Early Excellence and Beyond

It’s double the giggles and double the grins, but also double the worries about child care if you’re blessed with twins, like Joni Gilmore. A single mom who works part-time as a certified nursing assistant, Joni’s load is lighter because her 4-year-old boys attend the Early Excellence Program of Denver, located in the Cole neighborhood. Early Excellence provides high quality (it has a 4-Star Qualistar rating) preschool education to children from two to five years old, with the goal of cognitively, socially, emotionally and physically preparing children to achieve academic success in kindergarten and beyond. Most of the children, like… Read the Rest