DENVER, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Early childhood education in Colorado just received a major boost thanks to Clayton Early Learning.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Head Start, has recognized Clayton Educare as a "Center of Excellence."  This is the first year this award has been designated and Clayton is among the first ten Head Start programs nationwide to ever receive the award.  Clayton will receive $1 million in funding over the next five years to provide outreach to other Colorado and national Head Start and early childhood education programs and deepen its unique evidence-based practices.

"We're thrilled that Clayton's high impact practices are in the national spotlight," said Clayton President and CEO Charlotte Brantley.  "This helps puts Colorado on the forefront of early childhood education reform and will greatly benefit the entire state as much of the funding will go to sharing our best practices in improving school readiness for at risk children throughout Colorado and the nation."

Founded more than 100 years ago as the George W. Clayton College, a refuge for young boys who had lost their fathers, today Clayton is a leading institution for the advancement of early childhood education. Clayton Early Learning operations include Clayton Educare and the Clayton Institute.  Clayton Educare provides Head Start and Early Head Start comprehensive services to more than 400 low-income children and their families. The Clayton Institute offers professional development to early childhood educators and conducts action research designed to identify effective practices in early childhood education.  

The Center of Excellence award was created to recognize grantees that are performing at the highest levels of quality.  Excellent and effective programs are defined as those that have achieved and are actively building upon full compliance with the program performance standards.  These are programs that are implementing comprehensive, innovative and targeted approaches to enhance program services and as such, are producing positive, measurable outcomes for children's school success; families supporting children's learning; and increased staff competency.

Clayton Early Learning, a non-profit organization comprised of Clayton Educare and Clayton Institute, improves early childhood education across Colorado through direct services to children and professionals, through research and evaluation, and through advocacy.  

SOURCE Clayton Early Learning