Child Care at The Denver Athletic Club

Room capacity: 8
Teacher: child ratio 1:5
Phone number: (720) 931-6724

Infant 1 is for children 6 weeks till around the time they start getting mobile. While meeting the basic needs like feeding, napping and diapering remain the top priority, our Infant 1 teachers are already working on helping your child to learn. The infants “practice” simple gross motor skills like holding their head up, rolling over, sitting up, etc. They also work on fine motor skills such as holding a bottle and passing toys from one hand to the other.

In addition to these skills, the infants are also learning through play. They are starting to learn the basics of cause and effect—if they push a toy, it moves away from them; if they pull a toy, it comes closer. Toys as simple as rattles and shakers help the infants to hear different sounds, which is an aspect of emerging literacy; other toys let them feel different textures or to see different colors and patterns.

The children are also learning through the interactions they have with their teachers. The infants may not be able to talk back with words (expressive language skills), but talking to infants (receptive languages skills) remains vital for building their intellect and to later language development. Our teachers label items in the child’s environment (“The ball is blue.” or “This is a cat.”); they narrate what is going on around the child (“I am going to warm up your bottle now and then you get to eat.”). They ask the infants open-ended questions such as “Why do you think the ball rolled away?” Teachers also acknowledge and respond to the infants’ early attempts at communication, whether it's babble or coos.

Room capacity: 10
Teacher: child ratio 1:5
Phone number: (720) 931-6779

Children are in Infant 2 from around the time they start being mobile till they are about one year old. Meeting basic needs continues to be a priority, but as infants get older, there are new things to learn. Older infants begin to be exposed to art, which not only allows them to begin expressing creativity, but it also continues the learning process: the texture of paint, the cause and effect of pressing a crayon to paper, etc.

Our Infant 2 teachers continue developing the children’s vocabulary though interactions. They continue labeling items, which becomes even more essential as the children are coming closer to using their first words. In addition to the teachers reading to the infants, Infant 2 has a special area where books are readily available.

As the infants get older, the teachers work with them on the changes they will expect and skills they need to prepare them for Toddler 1. They work with infants to get them accustomed to one nap a day in the afternoon. They also introduce the infants to eating with a spoon and a plate, to prepare them for self-feeding routines in the toddler classrooms.

When weather permits, the children in Infant 2 go for rides outside, around the block in our buggies and strollers.

Room capacity: 10
Teacher: child ratio 1:5
Ages: One year - 18 months
Phone number: (720) 931-6815

Talking and interactions remain a vital part of this classroom. The children are gaining more words and are making further attempts to communicate through words and gestures. Stories, songs and finger-plays are a regular part of the daily routine.

Art also occurs several times during the toddlers’ week—projects like collage art, finger painting or painting with different tools help build the toddlers’ fine motor skills and also give them the chance to express their own creativity. Other play areas also help build fine motor skills, such as stacking toys, nesting toys and simple puzzles. Math and science toys are included as well through such simple objects as large magnifying glasses, color paddles and nature objects like seashells and houseplants.

The toddlers continue to develop their social skills in their interactions with their peers and teachers. The teachers help model positive relationships with others and also a healthy view on the full range of emotions. The teachers work with the toddlers on basic cognitive skills. Some of this knowledge comes from the labeling teachers do in their interactions (for example: "My milk is cold, but pizza tastes better hot"). They also build skills through repetition, whether counting or saying the ABC’s.

The toddlers have daily access to the toddler section of our Little Gym. This area includes a small set of stairs and a slide to facilitate the developmentally appropriate urge to climb in a safe environment. Teachers expand on gross motor play by bringing out balls, bean bags or other materials from the classroom. Toddler 1 also goes on walks outside- the younger children ride in the Bye-Bye Buggy, while the older children begin to practice walking while holding onto a special rope or by helping to "push" the buggy. Toddlers also get to go play on our Outdoor Playground.

Room Capacity: 10
Teacher: child ratio 1:5
Ages: 18 - 24 months
Phone number: (720) 931-6723

Toddler 2 continues to build the cognitive skills the children began in the previous classrooms. Through repetition, they work on labeling basic colors and shapes. The teachers sing songs and finger plays while the children join in with clapping or singing along. The toddlers continue water play, where they can be introduced to math concepts such as full versus empty and more versus less. The children do not fully comprehend these concepts (nor are they expected to), but it is the introduction to these ideas (and others) that is vital.

The Toddler 2 teachers continue talking to the children about everything in their routine. They narrate about what is going on in the classroom and they respond to and build on the toddlers’ attempts to communicate verbally. A child may bring a teacher a toy and correctly label it a “car”. The teachers affirm and build on this labeling by saying, “Yes, it’s a red car.”

Some of the children in this classroom may begin to show interest in potty training. Such interest is encouraged, but never forced.

The toddlers have daily access to the toddler section of our Little Gym. This area includes a small set of stairs and a slide. Teachers expand on gross motor play by bringing out balls, bean bags or other materials from the classroom. Toddler 2 goes on walks outside while holding onto a special rope. Toddlers get to play in the toddler section of our Outside Playground.

Children in Toddler 2 can now enroll in gymnastics and private / semi-private swim lessons.

Room capacity: 14
Teacher: child ratio 1:7
Ages: 2 - 3 years
Phone number: (720) 931-6710

Toddler 3 is the last of our “toddler” rooms. The teachers further develop the toddlers’ cognitive skills by not simply labeling basic colors and shapes, but by encouraging the children to start identifying these concepts. They continue counting, singing songs and doing finger plays. The children in Toddler 3 are building more and more vocabulary, so they are eager to participate. The children continue developing their social-emotional skills as they start doing more cooperative play with their classmates.

Toddler 3 is the main classroom for potty training (though being potty trained is not a requirement to move up to Preschool 1). As the children seem ready, Toddler 3 begins working on independence in the bathroom, prompting children to go potty and to wash their own hands. Our newest classroom space, which opened in July 2010, encourages this independence, while the half wall in the bathroom simplifies supervision.

The toddlers have daily access to the toddler section of our Little Gym. This area includes a small set of stairs and a slide. Teachers expand on gross motor play by bringing out balls, bean bags or other materials from the classroom. Toddler 3 goes on walks outside while holding onto a special rope. The toddlers also get to play in the toddler section of our Outside Playground.

The children in Toddler 3 can enroll in gymnastics, ballet/dance, swimming, and Hero Kids Sports.

Room capacity: 14
Teacher: child ratio 1:8
Ages: 2.5 - 3.5 years
Phone number: (720) 931-6721

Early Preschool is the transition classroom from a Toddler to Preschool. Children age 2.5-3.5 years get to experience a smaller transition into the Preschool setting. This class is identical to our Toddler 3 in size group, but focuses more on getting ready for Preschool 1. This class focuses on individualized and small group learning settings that reach the dynamic needs of young people including social emotional, reading readiness, math, art and technology. Early Preschool is consistently teaching safety, respect, and responsibility in the classroom for true growth and potential in preparation for the Preschool One classroom. During Circle Time Early Preschool focuses on the children’s cognitive skills by going over the Classrooms rules, colors, shapes, Calendar etc. Throughout the day the main focus is the children’s Social Emotional Skills. The Children are encouraged to problem solve, help others, and use sharing words. This helps the children to express their emotions such as anger, happiness, or even sympathy, in a positive way. The Children are learning to create a caring relationship with their friends and adults in their lives. Fine motor skills in art are a critical learning experience that teaches independence. In art we focus on the process and not as much as the outcome. Early Preschool also provides the art of music into their daily routine that includes instruments and singing. Clean up is an important learning experience that prompts responsibility and safety with a clean environment to play for all children.

Early Preschool continues the potty training process for the children who still need the assistance when they move down from Toddler Three. The Children are encouraged to use the restroom often as well as at home with their families. As the children seem ready, Toddler 3 & EPS begin working on independence in the bathroom, prompting children to go potty and to wash their own hands. By the time the children move to the Preschool One classroom, they are typically fully potty trained.

Early Preschool uses “the big kid side” of the Little Gym, which includes a climbing structure with slides. The teachers continue to facilitate free play during gross motor time by bringing additional toys from the classroom. The Early Preschoolers also get to play in the preschool section of our Outside Playground.

Early Preschool children currently have the option to enroll in gymnastics, ballet, swimming, dance, tennis and Hero Kids Sports.

Room capacity: 30
Teacher: child ratio 1:10
Ages: 3 - 4 years
Phone number: (720) 931-6722

Preschool 1 is for our young, preschool age children. The children are introduced to the alphabet as more than just a song.  After morning snack, the children find a card on the floor that says their name.  Then, with help from teachers as needed, they spell out the letters in their name. By the time the children move up to Preschool 2, they confidently know the letters in their name and often letters in other friends names as well.  Through repetition at Circle Time, the teachers help the children to build the list of concepts they can identify-primarily colors and shapes. They also use a calendar to practice counting and to start introducing concepts of time and weather.

Preschool 1 children continue to work on math concepts introduced in the younger classes including counting to at least 3 beyond rote (e.g. counting objects with a one-to-one correspondence as opposed to abstractly counting to a given number). They often do simple cooking projects, like making play-dough or applesauce. These projects reinforce math and science concepts through measuring and also emerging literacy concepts by doing tasks in a sequence.  

This is the last classroom for potty training. With proper supervision, the children are encouraged to be independent in the bathroom and in other routines. They are encouraged to get themselves dressed before and after swim lessons (with help from teachers for buttons, snaps, etc). The children are encouraged to clean-up after themselves at the lunch table and during free play. Cubbies with their belongings are at their level so the children can retrieve and put away items as necessary.

Preschool 1 uses “the big kid side” of the Little Gym, which includes a climbing structure with slides. The teachers continue to facilitate free play during gross motor time by bringing additional toys from the classroom. The preschoolers also get to play in the preschool section of our Outside Playground (which was completely redesigned in Spring 2018!) 

Preschool children currently have the option to enroll in gymnastics, swimming, dance, tennis and Hero Kids Sports.

Room capacity: 30
Teacher: child ratio 1:12
Ages: 4 - 6 years
Phone number: (720) 931-6701

Preschool 2 is the “big kid class”. The main goal in Preschool 2 is “kindergarten readiness.” When asked what changes we could make to help with kindergarten readiness, a local private school representative said, “Don’t change a thing; we love getting your kids.”

Preschool 2 works on such math skills as counting to 100 and counting by 10s. The children use a calendar daily, learning days of the week, months of the year and seasons. When children enter Preschool 2, they begin tracing and then freewriting their name, sometimes starting with just a single letter. They play cooperative games, such as board games and letter /number identification games ("fishing") as a large group. In addition to individual play, they work on cooperative art projects and building projects in the block area. Basic manners are encouraged, such as greeting teachers and friends upon arrival and using manners during play. Problem solving is also encouraged - the children are prompted to talk problems out instead of simply coming to a teacher when something is wrong.

Preschool 2 uses “the big kid side” of the Little Gym, which includes a climbing structure with slides. The class has a box stored in the Little Gym to facilitate free play during gross motor time. The preschoolers go for walks outside; they also get to play in the preschool section of our Outside Playground (which was completely redesigned in the Spring of 2018!).

Preschool children currently have the option to enroll in gymnastics, swimming, dance, tennis and Hero Kids Sports.

Room capacity: 36
Teacher: child ratio 1:15
Ages: 5- 12 years
Phone number: (720) 931-6108

Kinder Prep
In Kinder Prep, your child will learn the basic skills needed to successfully enter kindergarten. Being ready for kindergarten means that your child is able to attend to and learn the information being presented in the academic setting and is emotionally able to interact appropriately with her teacher and fellow students. There’s a lot to learn in that first year of school, and in addition to the lessons and activities, a kindergarten classroom also has schedules and directions to follow, lines to stand in and other children to get along with. So kids need social and behavioral skills — like independence, curiosity and self-control — as much as they need early academic skills — like counting or knowing some of the letters in their name.  

The development of the building block skills for preschool readiness allows preschool teachers to expand and further develop a child’s skills in the areas of social interaction, play, language, emotional development, physical skills, early literacy and numeracy and fine motor skills. The basic establishment of these skills in advance of entry to the preschool program typically affords the child a more successful entry to the preschool environment. This can reflect social interaction in making and keeping friends, self care skills (such as toileting independence and being able to manage their lunchbox independently), emotional regulation to demonstrate age appropriate responses to frustration and to control tantrums, competent physical skills as the play they engage in when interacting with their peers (both independently and alone) as well as language skills for both listening (e.g. to group  play instructions) as well as talking (with their friends).

Our Kinder Prep teachers are also our camp counselors, so your child will be able to have an easy transition from Kinder Prep to Camp in the summer.

Camp
Our Camp Program Runs for Summer Break (June-August), Winter Break, and Spring Break.

Camp encourages self discovery, so that campers can identify passions, nurture talents, and increase skills. In our Camp Program, campers sample athletic, creative, and fun-filled activities throughout their break from school. Our program explores the surrounding Denver area filled with activities to come together to learn, laugh, and increase self-confidence. With experienced educators and caring counselors, campers receive the individual attention they need to succeed. Optional daily and weekly attendance will be available as families can pick what days/weeks they would like to participate in.

Our Purpose: Building Self Confidence is our focus. We want every camper to leave our Summer Programs more aware of who they are and what they can become. We encourage individuals to step out of their comfort zones, challenge themselves, take healthy risks, revel in the experiences, and then acknowledge their accomplishments. 

The Children’s Center staff are educated professionals who provide a well supervised and stimulating learning environment. Extensive background checks are conducted on all DAC staff. All staff are CPR and First Aid certified.

Khanitta McGrath - Children's Center Director
[email protected]
(720) 931-6725

Khanitta was born in Bangkok, Thailand. After a few years in San Francisco, she and her husband moved to the Denver Metro Area. Together they have two children, Basil and Magnolia. Khanitta joined the DAC Children’s Center team in the summer of 2015 and started as an integral part of our Preschool program. She believes that teaching offers an invaluable reward; the smiling faces that greet her each morning set the tone for a positive day and a great life! Khanitta remains in touch with as many of her former students as possible, some even from 20 years ago! She can only hope to see our DAC kids in twenty years! In 2018, Khanitta accepted the position as The Children's Center Director and is looking forward to the rewarding challenges ahead. Khanitta bookends her days with her favorite activities: she beats the sun to the swimming pool each day and in the evening enjoys a favorite hobby of knitting. She is always working on some project and is always eager to teach the kids and other about it. She is very proud of her two children and finds that they continue to bring happiness into her life. She is in gratitude for the supportive DAC community of families, staff and children.

Patricia Mosso - Children's Center Assistant Director
[email protected]
(720) 931-6740

Paty Mosso joined the Children’s Center Team in 2014. She was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil but enjoys the majestic Rocky Mountains. She moved out to Colorado shortly after graduating high school to pursue a bachelor’s degree at UC Denver. As she was working towards getting her in-state for school she came across the DAC and that’s when her love for children grew. She has been with the DAC for 8 years now gaining as much experience as she could over the years. She has been lucky to work with several different ages and teachers and believes that background experience is what makes her a successful manager in her current role. She recently graduated from UC Denver with dual bachelor degrees in Psychology and Business Management. It is her hope to pursue a Masters and gain the knowledge and experience to be a transformational leader and a guide to other leaders in the business field. She is grateful for the opportunity to be a big part of this Center and looks forward to working alongside many familiar faces. This new chapter will allow her to grow professionally and personally and she couldn’t be more excited!

Angel Martinez - Children's Center Program / Camp Coordinator
[email protected]
(720)- 931-6812

Ms. Angel has been with the DAC since 2009. Ms. Angel has two children; Ivan and Mila. Her family also includes her boyfriend and their dog. She enjoys spending time with her family going to the movies and making fun memories. Ms. Angel is most proud of her children as they continue to learn and grow. Since 2009, she has worked with all ages, but most importantly led our previous Preschool 2 classroom to be successful young children in School. She now runs our Camp program and supports her Directors in supervisory roles. Ms. Angel has always loved watching children grow and advance through the program and loves the families here at the DAC. Her goal this year is to earn her Director’s certification and take on more opportunities.