Boulder Valley School District officials reported higher preschool enrollment and preliminary evidence that a 30‑hour, full‑day preschool model can raise kindergarten readiness metrics.

“As of Oct. 1, we had 832 students enrolled,” Executive Director Dr. Emma Herzog told the Board of Education on Oct. 28, 2025, comparing this year’s count with 770 students the previous Oct. 1. District staff said preschool general‑education seats at most sites are full or nearly full.

Herzog and Theresa Clemens, BVSD director of early childhood, described the district’s second year of the universal preschool model. BVSD runs morning and afternoon three‑hour sessions (15 hours per week) at every preschool classroom taught by an early childhood special‑education (ECSE) teacher; 14 sites also provide enrichment so families can access a full day. The district is piloting one 30‑hour full‑day model at Alicia Sanchez.

Early outcomes from the 30‑hour model. BVSD presented TS Gold checkpoint data for 4‑year‑old preschoolers. District presenters cautioned the sample is limited and that programming changed multiple times in recent years, but they highlighted strong year‑to‑year progress for 4‑year‑olds across TS Gold domains in 2024–25 and a comparison that showed larger kindergarten‑readiness gains at Alicia Sanchez after the 30‑hour model’s first year.

At Alicia Sanchez, the percentage of 4‑year‑olds meeting the TS Gold kindergarten‑readiness benchmark increased in several domains between 2023–24 (pre‑pilot) and 2024–25 (pilot year): social‑emotional readiness increased from 50% to 81%; language readiness rose from 46% to 77%; literacy readiness rose from 67% to 85%.

“Families shared that their students went from not wanting to go to school to loving going to school,” Clemens said, reporting results from a June family roundtable. Staff noted some scheduling challenges for families because the Alicia Sanchez school day ends at 1:50 p.m., about an hour before other schools’ dismissal times.

Funding and enrollment barriers. District staff said Impact on Education, the district’s nonprofit foundation, provided 70 tuition waivers that helped low‑income families access preschool seats; the foundation funded 14 waivers specifically at Alicia Sanchez this year. Staff also said Colorado’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) remains frozen statewide, limiting family access to state subsidies and complicating enrollment for families who qualify for assistance.

Out‑of‑district enrollment. BVSD staff said out‑of‑district preschoolers increased from 49 to 93 over two years — a trend staff said they are monitoring for downstream effects on kindergarten and later grades.

Data caveats and next steps. Dr. Herzog said several methodological issues complicate long‑term effectiveness studies: BVSD’s preschool model changed multiple times in the last four years; students vary in time spent in district preschool (from weeks to multiple years); state coding and data collection practices have changed; and there is limited reliable information about children who did not attend BVSD preschool prior to kindergarten. The assessment and accountability teams are taking stock of available historical data and will propose analytic approaches for comparing groups and controlling for student characteristics.

Officials said they will continue recruiting through the preschool community‑liaison team, seek additional tuition‑waiver funding for eligible families, and press the Colorado Department of Early Childhood to improve CCAP and enrollment systems.

Ending note. District leaders called the early findings encouraging but preliminary, and they said staff will return with further analyses as the accountability team refines the data and as the district explores the feasibility of full‑day models.