WEEK OF AUGUST 3, 2023
VOLUME 78 | ISSUE 41
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HAWKS CELEBRATE HEROS
State preschool program leaves some unsure A month before universal preschool starts, Colorado is backpedaling on a major funding promise BY ERICA BREUNLIN THE COLORADO SUN
The seventh annual “Horizon Heroes” game will be held at Thornton’s Horizon High School on Aug. 5. The event features football players, cheerleaders and participants with special needs who all compete and have fun on the field. See the story on page 24. COURTESY PHOTO
VOICES: 12 | LIFE: 14 | CALENDAR: 17 | SPORTS: 22
A preschool in Greeley that has shepherded countless kids through the first years of their education over the past 21 years may welcome its last class of 4-year-olds next month, eyeing an uncertain future as it dives into the state’s newly expanded preschool program. Nearby, a different preschool that caters to mostly children of lowincome families has only been able to fill a quarter of its classrooms for the start of the school year and is weighing its options — which could include closing its doors. Preschools across Colorado are sprinting to make final preparations for the start of the state’s expanded preschool program, known as universal preschool. And with less than a month until the first day of school, many question whether they’ll have enough state funding to stay open. That question has bubbled up in the past month, after Colorado’s new Department of Early Childhood changed the way it will calculate how much funding preschool providers will receive during their first few months of the program. SEE PRESCHOOL, P8
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SPINNING OUT STARS Program helps young musicians shine
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