About
Why Choose Thompson Integrated Early Childhood?
Our classrooms are led by dedicated and highly skilled teachers and paraprofessionals. Each of our teachers holds a bachelor’s or master’s degree in education, with many certified in special education. Our paraprofessionals are certified Early Childhood Teachers through the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, ensuring they meet the highest standards of care and instruction. Our classrooms also benefit from the expertise of Speech-Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists, who visit weekly to support our students' development. Additionally, our Early Childhood Coordinator staff frequently go in and out of classrooms to provide support, feedback, and coaching to our teaching staff to ensure ongoing professional development.
We employ several research-based curricula including, The Creative Curriculum and Second Step, to deliver a well-rounded preschool education. These programs foster growth across multiple domains such as literacy, math, science, language, motor skills, and social-emotional learning, ensuring our students are prepared for success in every area of development. We align our curriculum district-wide using Preschool through Grade 12 State Academic Standards as well as meeting the federal Head Start Child Outcomes.
Program Information
The mission of the Thompson Integrated Early Childhood Program is to provide high quality, developmentally appropriate education, and family-centered services that value and respect the diversity of individual children and families. Through collaboration with community and educational resources, we strive to identify and alleviate barriers that interfere with the ability of families and children to reach their full potential.
Thompson Integrated Early Childhood offers preschool education at 15 locations across Larimer County to children who live within the Thompson School District. Our program serves 3 and 4-year-olds with birthdays on or before October 1st. The program offers free half-day integrated preschool classrooms through Child Find - Special Education services, the Head Start program, and the Colorado Universal Preschool program. If your child does not qualify for any of those services, we also offer tuition-based spots with limited availability.
The majority of our classrooms are in session for 3 hours a day, 4 days a week. Additionally, there are few full-day classrooms in session for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. The full-day program is available for students who are good candidates for a full day’s worth of curriculum as determined by our intake specialist. Full-day classes may come with additional tuition fees unless students come from households with certain qualifying factors.
**Children who have turned 5 years old on or before October 1st are not eligible for preschool in the Thompson School District. They are eligible for kindergarten services and families are encouraged to contact their home elementary school for enrollment information.
Enrollment Information
Classroom size is limited to ensure staff can meet the needs of their students as all of our classrooms are integrated with children who have a variety of needs. Enrollment priority is given to those returning for their second year of preschool and children who are in the year before they start kindergarten. From there, a portion of spots are reserved for Head Start-eligible students, Universal Preschool students, and students who are identified as eligible for Special Education through the Child Find service. If there are still spots available after these children are placed, those will open up for tuition-based applicants.
Children who qualify for Special Education, Head Start, or Universal Preschool services are placed according to needs and availability. Any requests regarding location, teacher, and session preferences will be highly considered. However, please know not all requests can be honored. As a program, we work to balance classrooms and remain in compliance with our state and federal guidelines. All factors are heavily considered when determining placement.
Demand for the program is high, and our classrooms fill quickly. Once this happens, children eligible for the Universal Preschool program, Head Start, or tuition pay are placed on a waitlist. If openings become available, the family will be contacted.
**Please note, if a child is attending a preschool outside their “home” attendance area, they are not guaranteed a place in the kindergarten program at that same school. If you wish to attend kindergarten at that same school, you will need to complete the “choice enrollment” application process with that chosen school.
Have more questions about our program? See some answers.
Still need help? Call us at 970-613-5052 or email tsdearlychildhood@tsd.org
