Foundations PD Update 🍎 AUGUST 2026

DIRECTORS!

Directors' Professional Learning Community (PLC)

This PLC provides a supportive, collaborative environment to help directors overcome internal capacity challenges and advance structured career pathways and equitable pay scale practices.

August 25 | 12:30-2 PM

Ascend Center

1600 N. Union Blvd.

NEW Support!

Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families is excited to share that with our new Early Childhood Education (ECE) license we are launching the Early Learning Substitute Placement Agency (ELSPA)!

The ELSPA is designed to support licensed childcare centers and family child care homes in El Paso County by helping connect programs with qualified substitute staff when staffing needs arise.

To learn more about the ELSPA and how it can support your program’s staffing needs, please see our flyer HERE.

Brain Building

NEW! Vroom

Discover how everyday interactions can build young children's brains. This session explores the science behind early brain development and introduces Vroom, a free, research-based program that helps caregivers turn daily routines into Brain Building Moments. Participants will learn practical ways to integrate Vroom resources into their programs, engage families, and become a Vroom partner to access free tools and materials that support children's learning and healthy development.

September 22 | 6–7:30 pm

Ascend Center

1600 N. Union Blvd.

Monthly Sessions

JOIN US!

JI's Early Childhood Mental Health team is offering a Dine + Learn sessions once a month for directors and/or teachers to join us via Zoom. Each month, we will discuss a topic seen widely across centers, then open it up for you all to ask questions, talk through what behaviors you are seeing at your program, discuss resources in the community, collaborate, and partner!

Join via Zoom HERE

Social-Emotional

Connection Before Correction

Connection Before Correction takes a Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) lens. We explore different ways of connecting and teachers’ hot buttons; how to identify them and see how they impact the relationships we have with children in the classroom.

September 17 | 6–7:30 PM

Ascend Center

1600 N. Union Blvd.

REMINDERS + SAVE-THE-DATES

LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP! Child Development Associate+

There is still time to join the CDA+ program!

The CDA+, created by Pikes Peak State College (PPSC), is a ten-session program (80 hours) that allows you to earn seven college credits as Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) . For more information click HERE.

EQIT Coming in September + November!

Two sessions of EQIT are coming in September and November. Both sessions are held on Monday/Thursday from 6–9 pm and expected dates are below. For registration, email Erica Evans, Foundations Infant + Toddler Specialist, at eevans@jointinitiatives.org or call 719.233.0770

September 3 – November 5, 2026
November 9, 2026 – February 1, 2027

Reminders (Details in PD Catalog)

The Growing Brain | August 10, 12 and 17 | REGISTER
Supporting Children with Challenging Behaviors | August 12 | REGISTER

AUGUST PD CATALOG

Catalog is linked below and available on the PD Calendar page.

QUICK NEWS

FREE OPPORTUNITY

Introduction to The Creative Curriculum ® For Preschool. The Teller Parker Early Childhood Council has extended the opportunity to our community and is sharing available seats with interested providers. For more information, please see the attached flyer HERE.

PIKES PEAK STATE COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS + RESOURCES

On-demand videos include: Tutorial en Español por la Solicitud de Admisión, Step-by-Step FAFSA Tutorial, and Student Video Resources.

MORE RESOURCES

For more early childhood professional development resources, visit the Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families website HERE. You'll find pages under the Foundations program menu.