Looking for child care can sometimes feel like a daunting task. We hope that our Guide to Preschools and Daycare in Colorado Springs is a useful tool while you search. Thank you to our Guide sponsors: Little Sunshine’s Playhouse & Preschool and Early Connections Learning Centers.
If you are a local preschool or daycare center interested in being featured in our guide, please reach out to: [email protected].
Is there a child care center that you love? Let us know in the comments below.
Little Sunshine's Playhouse & Preschool
Little Sunshine’s Playhouse & Preschool® has two outstanding locations conveniently situated in Colorado Springs. Their first location can be found in the Cheyenne Mountain area, while their second is located in Briargate (coming soon).
Little Sunshine’s Playhouse & Preschool® takes pride in offering an exceptional all-inclusive, private preschool program tailored to meet the educational and child care needs of children aged 6 weeks through pre-kindergarten.
To accommodate your family’s individual childcare requirements, they offer a range of flexible scheduling options; Monday through Friday, Monday/Wednesday/Friday, and Tuesday/Thursday. Their monthly tuition rates encompass a comprehensive set of services, including formula, wipes, baby food, breakfast, lunch, snack, and engaging extracurricular activities. Learn more by visiting littlesunshine.com.
Early Connections Learning Centers
Serving Families with Safe and Nurturing Early Childhood Education for well over a century, Early Connections Learning Centers (Early Connections) was founded in 1897 to care for young children from working families. Today, we serve a sixth generation of Colorado Springs’ working families at our multiple year-round centers. We are proud to be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), an accreditation which less than 10% of all child care centers in the United States hold.
We provide the care you need!
- Our accreditation equates to a level 4 (on a 1 to 5 scale) on Colorado Shines. Only 11% of all child care centers are rated a level 4 or 5.
- Teacher to student ratio lower than the state requirement
- We are open 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to provide flexible care for working families
- We have a highly educated, trained, and committed staff.
- We provide family engagement through encouraged classroom visits, family nights, conferences, and more!
- We offer school and life readiness through our literacy-based curriculum, that allows and encourages children to actively engage, explore, and experiment in all the major domains.
- We have a team of Behavioral Health Specialists to ensure the social and emotional well-being of your children.
Colorado Shines Child Care Search
Colorado Shines is the quality rating and improvement system for all of Colorado’s licensed early care and learning programs serving children ages 0-5.
The State of Colorado offers this free search tool to help you find and research licensed child care programs in your community. Results will show you each program’s quality rating, licensing history, and monitoring reports to help you make the best decision for your family.
Daycare Centers: Infants and Up
Preschools
Family Child Care Homes
We recommend searching Colorado Shines for licensed family child care homes. You can search by location and view ratings and other information for each provider.
Financial Resources
Apply for CCCAP, If You Qualify
The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) provides financial child care assistance to working families.
It’s operated through the Colorado Department of Human Services and managed through the El Paso County Office of Early Childhood, Division of Early Care. The CCCAP program provides access to reduced cost child care at licensed facilities or qualified providers for qualifying families. (It is important to note that as of Jan. 1 2018, a waitlist has been enacted for new CCCAP participants. Families in need are still encouraged to apply and teen parents enrolled in high school are exempt from the waitlist).
In El Paso County, families must fall into the following brackets based on monthly income and family size to qualify for the programs:
| House Hold Size | Yearly Income | Monthly Income |
| 2 | $16,240.00 | $2,233.00 |
| 3 | $20,420.00 | $2,807.75 |
| 4 | $24,600.00 | $3,382.50 |
| 5 | $28,780.00 | $3,957.25 |
| 6 | $32,960.00 | $4,532.00 |
| 7 | $37,140.00 | $5,106.75 |
| 8 | $41,320.00 | $5,681.50 |
| 9 | $45,500.00 | $6,256.25 |
You can apply online here.
Enroll at a Reduced Rate Daycare Center
Some child care centers are specifically available to low income families.
- Community Partnership for Child Development (CPCD) Colorado Springs is a federally funded program that offers part-time care for infants to 3 years old in their Early Head Start program and 3 to 5 year old children in the Head Start Program. No cost for qualifying families. They also run a non-income based program for eligible children in the Colorado Preschool Program. CPCD serves more than 1,800 children in El Paso County in School Districts 2, 3, 8, 11, 20, and 49. For more information or to apply, visit their website here. This program is need based and has a waitlist. Due to high military turnover in the region, however, openings happen monthly, year round. Federal Income Guidelines for CPCD’s programs are the same as CCCAP listed above.
- Early Connections Learning Centers are another local option that works with families. They provide full-day, full-time care for children from 6 weeks to 14 years at various facilities. They accept CCCAP and use a sliding income scale to determine the cost of tuition. And they offer some grant opportunities to further reduce the price. On top of providing affordable care, they boast excellent, accredited, high quality education in a safe, secure environment. For enrollment information you and visit their website here.
- Child care for Pike’s Peak Community College students. Enrolled in at least 6 credit hours? Your child may qualify for a daycare facility on campus that operates on a sliding scale for tuition based on income. This facility does allow some non-student community members to enroll based on availability, but it also has a waitlist. A link to their website with rates and the income scale can be found here.
Child Find for Children Ages 3 Through 5 Years Old
“Child Find for children ages 3 through 5 years old is part of the public school system in Colorado to identify children suspected of having a delay in development as early as possible. If a young child is not meeting typical developmental milestones, or someone is concerned about the child’s growth or learning, a referral can be made to Child Find.”
