Staff Training and Continuing Education

An exceptional education program requires a highly skilled, competent teaching staff. Mile High Early Learning provides numerous and ongoing professional development opportunities for all staff to assure classroom quality and equip educators with tools and resources for success. 

Knowledgeable and skilled early educators are the single most important factor in high quality early childhood education. We invest in our teacher workforce through ongoing coaching, training, and professional development.

Each year our teachers receive:

• 90+ professional development hours
• 30+ hours of intensive coaching
• financial support to pursue early childhood degrees

Through a partnership with University of Colorado Denver, our staff have the opportunity to earn ECE credits towards a BA with the Place-Based BA program, which is offered at no cost to participants. Within this program, students participate in courses that are embedded in their workplaces while also receiving coaching from an advisor.

Family services staff participate in training designed to help them earn the Family Development Credential and learn highly effective approaches for supporting families and helping them set and reach their goals for healthy self-reliance.

Mile High Early Learning hosts an in-house Professional Development Institute annually. The weeklong event features collective strategy sessions, topical workshops, and networking opportunities. All employees attend the Institute and much information is shared and learned during the week.

Mile High Early Learning education staff consistently meet Head Start Performance Standards, the most rigorous early education credentials required by any early childhood program.

Trauma-Informed Care

Mile High Early Learning is partnering with Resilient Futures to provide training and support on trauma-informed care and culturally responsive practices with an equity lens. Resilient Futures uses the HEARTS (Healthy Environments and Response to Trauma in Schools) framework to promote resilience in trauma-impacted communities. All staff receive over eight hours of content annually on trauma, cultural humility, and resilience.

Race and Equity in Early Childhood

Mile High Early Learning provides ongoing professional learning to help staff build and hone skills that address equity. We have worked intentionally for the past several years to help our staff build the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to participate in race and equity conversations. Under the direction of a staff Race and Equity Steering Committee, MHEL has developed a multi-year plan for race and equity work informed by staff using our guiding principles of:

• Shared leadership
• Anti-bias atmosphere
• Growth mindset
• Focus on inclusivity

We are continuing our work to identify our own biases and beliefs through our Race and Equity Communities of Learning and other professional learning opportunities and provide opportunities for staff to reflect and connect. This work is designed to ensure that our teachers and staff who work closely with our children and families are advancing and supporting those in our community who have been marginalized and are furthest from opportunity.