Daycare in Highlands.

The Highlands runs northwest of downtown Denver across the South Platte River through Lower Highland (LoHi), Highland, West Highland, and the Tennyson Street commercial corridor in Berkeley-adjacent blocks. The area mixes restored Victorian and Denver Square homes with new mid-rise infill along 32nd Avenue, 38th Avenue, and Tennyson, and the under-five population skews young, professional, and dual-earner. The daycare map concentrates around the 32nd Avenue and 38th Avenue spines, with founder-run centers, a long-running Catholic preschool inside Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, several Reggio-influenced programs near Highland Park, and a meaningful supply of CDEC-licensed family child care homes on the residential side streets. Denver families pay tuition in line with the broader Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro, and Highlands sits squarely in the upper-middle band of the Denver price range. The daycare map here mixes private centers, church-basement preschools, and a moderate supply of family child care-licensed family child care homes, with the Colorado Universal Preschool program and Denver Preschool Program filling the four-year-old preschool tier for income-eligible families.

What you'll actually pay

In 2026 dollars, full-time center-based daycare in Highlands runs roughly $1,975 to $2,600 per month for infants and roughly $1,600 to $2,175 per month for preschool-age children, drawing on the National Database of Childcare Prices for Denver County and on CDEC licensing data. family child care-licensed family child care homes price lower, in the $1,100 to $1,500 per month range for infants, and nanny shares run $1,700 to $2,200 per child per month at prevailing Denver sitter rates.

The infant premium tracks Colorado's licensing rule under 12 CCR 2509-8: ratios are 1 staff to 5 infants under twelve months in a center, with a maximum group size of 10, with square-footage requirements that limit how many infant slots a Highlands center can carry. Highlands tuition sits in the upper-middle band of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro, a gap that reflects commercial rent and the local mix of large- and small-footprint sites. A center with a dedicated infant room will typically price several hundred dollars above a church-basement program nearby offering only preschool.

CDEC licensing and the colorado shines rating

Every Highlands center and every family child care home is licensed by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) under 12 CCR 2509-8. The regulation sets staff-to-child ratios, background checks, square-footage minimums, curriculum standards, and incident reporting. CDEC issues a Colorado Shines rating from Level 1 to Level 5 based on staff education, program standards, and compliance history. A Highlands family touring centers should pull the licensing record and colorado shines rating from the CDEC public portal before signing a deposit. Colorado also publishes early learning and development standards that participating providers align to.

Colorado Universal Preschool and the Denver Preschool Program

Colorado runs two routes that Highlands families with four-year-olds should both know. Colorado Universal Preschool is a state-funded preschool program for income-eligible four-year-olds, administered locally through the Colorado Department of Early Childhood through the BridgeCare matching portal. The program operates in community-based partner classrooms and inside several Denver Preschool Program buildings. Eligibility runs through 127 percent of the federal poverty level for Colorado Universal Preschool with priority for families also experiencing other risk factors. The second route is the Denver Preschool Program (DPP), a voter-funded tuition credit available to every four-year-old living in the City and County of Denver, the Denver school district's Pre-K seat and the privately funded Indy Preschool Scholarship, also targeted at four-year-olds whose families would benefit from a sliding-scale tuition. Applications for both run through the Colorado Department of Early Childhood through the BridgeCare matching portal in the same winter window before the fall start.

Colorado Child Care Assistance Program

Income-eligible families can apply for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP), the state child care subsidy administered through Denver Human Services for the City and County of Denver. The subsidy pays part of the cost at a participating CDEC-licensed provider, with a family parent fee set on a sliding scale based on household income and family size. The subsidy can be used at a center or a family child care-licensed family child care home with an open subsidized slot. Colorado raised CCCAP reimbursement rates to the 75th percentile of the regional market rate in 2023 and expanded eligibility to 270 percent of the federal poverty level under the Healthy School Meals for All and Colorado Universal Preschool funding packages.

Federal credits and the Colorado stack

Three federal tools stack on top of any Colorado Universal Preschool seat or CCCAP subsidy: the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit on IRS Form 2441, the Dependent Care FSA (up to $5,000 per household per year of pre-tax savings), and the federal Child Tax Credit. Colorado adds a state Child and Dependent Care Credit set at 50 percent of the federal credit for families under $25,000 in adjusted gross income (scaling down to 10 percent at higher incomes), plus the Colorado Child Tax Credit and the state Family Affordability Tax Credit for qualifying households. A two-earner Highlands household paying the full private rate typically recovers $1,800 to $2,400 in combined federal tax savings on the $5,000 FSA alone, plus state credits.

Sample Highlands centers

Listings reflect editorial picks, not paid placements, and pricing is the published rate before any subsidized seat or federal and state tax credit. Verified by DaycareSquare editorial — last reviewed May 2026. Full Highlands listings directory is in progress.

Frequently asked

Where to go next

Walk through the cost calculator to model your Highlands year with the FSA, the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit, and Colorado state credits factored in. Read our Colorado UPK and DPP explainer, the Denver cost overview, the broader cost pillar, and our daycare comparison checklist before you book visits. For neighboring areas, see Berkeley daycare and Sloan Lake daycare, or step back to all Denver.