D49 Opens Student Success Center Preschool Classrooms — And Nine More Campuses Earn Purple Star Status
Two pieces of good news landed quietly for District 49 families at the start of this school year. The D49 Student Success Center opened two new early childhood classrooms in August, expanding access to preschool and the Base49 program at a dedicated facility. And nine more D49 campuses were named Colorado Purple Star Schools by the Colorado Department of Education — a recognition specifically for schools that go above and beyond in supporting military-connected families.
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The D49 Student Success Center is housed at the former Falcon Elementary School building, which gives the district a dedicated location for its most intensive early childhood and specialized support programs. The two new classrooms that opened this fall are part of D49 Early Childhood Education's expansion of preschool capacity and Base49, which provides early learning and intervention services for children with developmental needs.
The center-model approach — consolidating specialized programs at a single, purpose-built location rather than distributing them across individual elementary campuses — gives teachers and families a more consistent support environment and allows specialists to collaborate more easily across programs. For families navigating the early childhood support system, having a single hub makes the process of accessing services somewhat more straightforward.
D49 serves portions of Colorado Springs, Falcon, and the surrounding Pikes Peak region. The district operates seven schools and two charter campuses, giving it one of the larger footprints in the metro area.
Purple Star Schools Recognition
The Colorado Purple Star Schools program, administered by the Colorado Department of Education, recognizes K-12 schools that demonstrate exceptional commitment to supporting military-connected students and their families. Schools earn the designation by meeting criteria around transition support, counseling, communication, and policies that ease the specific challenges military families face — including frequent moves, deployed parents, and adjusting to new schools mid-year.
For Colorado Springs, where Fort Carson and Peterson Space Force Base anchor a substantial military community, this designation is meaningful. Nine additional D49 campuses received Purple Star status in September 2026, building on what has become a significant district-wide commitment to military family support. Parents who are new to Colorado Springs from a military assignment can use the Colorado Purple Star Schools database to identify campuses with established support structures before they make school choice decisions.
What's Next
Families interested in early childhood programs at the D49 Student Success Center can find enrollment information at d49.org. For military families new to the area and researching Purple Star Schools, the full list of recognized campuses is available through the Colorado Department of Education at cde.state.co.us. D49's main enrollment and program contact is also available at d49.org or by calling the district office directly.
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