Mile High Kids is accepting applications for Head Start Preschool classes for kids 3-5 in Colonial Beach, Warsaw, Tappahannock, and at Cople Elementary School. Applications are available in English and Spanish.
Have questions? Call the NNK office, (804) 250-2052.
What is Head Start?
According to (PDF) the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the HHS Administration for Children and Families,
Established in 1965, Head Start was designed to promote the school readiness of children, ages three to five, from families with low income by supporting the development of the whole child through high-quality, comprehensive services. In 1994, the Early Head Start program was established to provide these same comprehensive services to families with low income who have infants and toddlers, as well as pregnant women. Today, the ACF Office of Head Start oversees approximately 1,600 Head Start and Early Head Start grantees run by local public and private non-profit and for-profit agencies throughout all 50 States, the District of Columbia, six territories, and in tribal and migrant and seasonal farm-working communities.
Nearly one million children, birth to age five, are currently enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start. Children and their families receive services through a variety of models, including center-based, family child care, and home-based (home visiting). Programs tailor their service models to the needs of the local community and to be ethnically, culturally, and linguistically responsive to the families they serve. Children’s growth and development is supported through individualized early learning experiences, health and nutritional services, and supports for family well-being.
Head Start can have a major impact on children immediately and into the future. In Moving beyond “Does Head Start work?” What 60 years of research have to say from W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, the org writes,
Since the program’s inception in 1965, researchers have been asking “Does Head Start work?” The wealth of data accumulated over the decades and innovative new methodologies have allowed the Upjohn Institute’s Chloe Gibbs to push past this question and examine specifics: When do the programs work well? Under what conditions, with what features, and for which children?
Head Start was designed to be flexible. There is no single Head Start program, and how well or poorly any local implementation performs can vary dramatically across centers. In general, however, the research suggests that Head Start improves life outcomes for the most disadvantaged children, especially for those who would not have another option for formal preschool.
Evidence also points to benefits for Head Start parents by enabling them to work while the children attend the program. In addition, children’s participation generates positive spillovers to siblings, peers, and even participants’ own children later in life, suggesting that Head Start’s benefit-cost ratio is even larger than typically calculated.