July 17th, 2023

The Colorado Trust Appoints Ty Coleman and Donald Nease as 2024 Trustees


Ty Coleman is a Board of Directors member for the ECC SLV!

CONGRATULATIONS to Ty on his continued work as a Service Leader.


The Colorado Trust, a private, statewide philanthropic foundation dedicated to ensuring all Coloradans have the opportunity to thrive, has appointed Alamosa Mayor Ty Coleman and Donald Nease, MD to its board of trustees. The appointments take effect on Jan. 1, 2024.


“I am absolutely thrilled to have Mayor Coleman and Dr. Nease joining us as trustees,” said Rev. Louise Westfall, 2023 board chair of The Colorado Trust. “We strive to have our board represent the amazing diversity of lived experiences our state offers, and these new board members promise to bolster our mission to advance the health and well-being of the people of Colorado.”


Click here to read the full article.

Exciting news to share!


CSU Prevention Research Center is hosting one last Facilitator Training for the Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14. Become a Certified SFP 10-14 Facilitator!

 

The 3 Day Training will be August 1st–3rd, 8:00AM – 5:00PM each day. Register soon because space is limited.


We hope you’re able to join us! 


Click here to learn more about the event and watch the video below! 

Register Here!

Universal Preschool Colorado-Updates


UPK Colorado is excited to announce the matching timeline leading up to the 2023-2024 program year!


What’s happening with matching?


Providers will receive fourth round matches on July 19th! Families will be able to review these matches starting July 27th and should accept them by August 2nd. After this round, we will move to a direct enrollment period where the LCO will be able to assist families with direct placement into open provider slots! There are still open slots at most providers in the Valley. For questions or assistance accepting a match, completing a new application, or selecting/changing a provider, please contact Lindsey at 719-214-6202.


Interested in what is happening with the Rules Advisory Committee? You can sign up to receive direct updates including notice of upcoming hearings and rules from CDEC here.

Health & Safety


Join us and CDI Head Start at the Health & Enrollment Fair on Wednesday, July 26th from 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Get a "Head Start" on your child's preschool health requirements!

EQIT - Save the Dates!


Great News!

 

The ECCSLV Fall 2023 Expanding Quality in Infant Toddler Care Course is NOW available for registration on PDIS! 

 

Please watch the How-To Video at the link below and register for this course as soon as possible. 

 

How-to Video: Registering for a Live Training Session on PDIS (3 minutes)

 

A tip you should know about when looking for ECCSLV EQIT course: Select Show More at the bottom of the Upcoming Sessions and then scroll down to see the ECC of SLV session. 


Please click here for the informational flyer and course schedule.


Please click here for the the full-size schedule (shown below).


If you have any questions please reach out to Tina Esquibel, EQIT Coordinator at 719-937-4010 or [email protected]

The Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance is offering 100 scholarships for their upcoming 3-day Virtual Summit to child care providers, centers, schools, and operators of the CACFP. Up to 12 hours of continuing education are available.

Here's the link to apply.


**Deadline to apply is August 1, 2023.**


CACFP Virtual Summit on August 15-17, 2023


  • Explore New Foods with a Taste Testing Adventure
  • Promoting Responsive Feeding Practices in Early Childhood Settings
  • Quizapalooza: Are You a Meal Pattern Super Star?
  • Ask Us Anything About CACFP Head Start
  • Book & Bake to Build Math, Science and Literacy Foundations
  • Program Accountability: Internal Controls
  • Plant-Powered Palates: Showcasing Plant-Forward CACFP Recipes & Menus
  • Creditable or Not?
  • Ask Us Anything About CACFP Meal Patterns
  • Building Healthy Bodies with the Food We Serve
  • Culinary Knife Skills for Child Nutrition Programs
  • Resilience is Everything
  • USDA Policy Updates & Town Hall
  • Ask Us Anything: No CACFP Questions Unanswered


Learn More About CACFP Virtual Summit

Pyramid Training - Problem Solving


A 1.5 hour interactive training of effective strength-based social/emotional supports for teachers, children, and families.


When: July 25, 2023 – 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Where: A ZOOM Training

Fee: Scholarship from Council (no fee)

For more information – Cindy Harris – 719-588-2870

Click here to register before July 21st!

Personal Development - Career opportunities and financial supports for you! 

 

High quality early childhood settings begin with well-trained and well-prepared educators. The Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance (ECCLA) currently offers several state-wide scholarship and grant opportunities for students who would like to earn a degree, certificate, or credential in early childhood education, and for home-based providers who are seeking funding to start up, expand, or maintain consistent operations for their family child care home facility:



  • ECCLA’s Back to Work Scholarship Program provides 1:1 career and college navigation and scholarship awards up to $2,500.00 that can be used for several different types of expenses (like books, supplies, child care, and more!)
  • ECCLA’s Concurrent Enrollment Scholarship is for high school students interested in earning college credits and experience in Early Childhood Education.
  • ECCLA’s Early Childhood Coach Credential Scholarship is available to help recipients complete the training requirements to earn a Colorado Coach Credential.
  • ECCLA’s Family Child Care Home Improvement Grant is available to help home-based providers start up, expand, or maintain consistent operations for their family child care home facility. 
  • ECCLA’s Rural R.U.N. Scholarship Program provides career counseling and tuition support to early childhood professionals in rural communities seeking to earn early childhood credentials like ERS®, CLASS®, National Director Credential, Coaching Credential, and any of the ECE College Certificates.
  • ECCLA’s T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Colorado Scholarship Program offers early childhood professionals a pathway to pursue higher education. 
  • ECCLA’s  Early Childhood Coach Credential Scholarship, in partnership with the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC), ECCLA offers a scholarship opportunity for early childhood professionals seeking an Early Childhood Coaching Credential. 


The Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance (ECCLA) is committed to the process of ensuring equity, dismantling systems of racism, and supporting young children, families, and early childhood professionals to have a voice as their true selves in our early childhood system. ECCLA’s Justice, Equity, and Belonging (JEB) Collaborative has created a Resource Collection that can support you in creating inclusive environments for children, families, and educators. We have resources created by ECCLA, resources for caregivers and educators, administrators and program leaders, and other community and state stakeholders, along with a list of Equity Trainings and Trainers. Check out ECCLA’s JEB page to see how you can create inclusive environments for children, families, and educators!


Click here to Apply 
Click here for Resources

Colorado Shines Level 3-5 Q&A Session:


You are invited to a Colorado Shines Level 3-5 Rating Question and Answer session! The Q&A session is typically held on the third Friday of each month from 1:00-2:30 pm and is hosted by members of Quality Assessment Services from Clayton Early Learning. The next Q&A will be held on July 21st.

 

The Q&A is designed for programs preparing for the in-person rating and for the coaches, councils, and QI Navigators supporting those programs. This is a great opportunity to ask any questions you may have about documentation indicators, the Environment Rating Scales, or the rating process. We will be responding to submitted questions and questions asked during the meeting. If you have program specific questions or would like to know the status of your program, please contact your lead assessor. You are welcome to invite support staff, lead teachers, and anyone assisting with uploading Level 3-5 documentation.

 

The Q&A is held on Zoom. Please make every attempt to log on to the Zoom meeting 5 minutes prior to the start of the meeting to avoid missing important details. Attendance details will be emailed to you prior to the session.

 

Please register by Thursday, July 20th by 12:00pm by clicking here

Resource and Referral - Do you or anyone you know need help paying for child care? 


The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) helps families that are working, searching for work, in school or homeless find low-income child care assistance. Contact your local Department of Human Services for more information.

 

  • Alamosa County - Linda Bruder at (719) 589-2581.


  • Conejos County - Margaret Jiron or Christine Garcia at (719) 376-5455.


  • Costilla County - Marissa Vigil at (719) 672-4131.


  • Rio Grande County - Wendy Barela-Sierra (719) 657-3381.


  • Saguache County - Christina Wilson (719) 655-2537.

Opportunities with deadlines-Repost


Merit Awards/Quality Incentive (bonus $) are available for licensed providers who were in operation on March 11th, 2021, and are interested in increasing a Colorado Shines quality level. The deadline is September 30, 2023 or until funds are no longer available. For more information, click here.


If you need additional information please contact Monique Bosch at [email protected]

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If individuals and organizations in the community want to share relevant information through this email list, ECCSLV will do its best to include the information in the next available e-newsletter.

ECCSLV considers requests based on relevance, capacity, and timeliness. We do not guarantee that all information will be shared.

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