Head Start classes and home visits for the Fall Term will begin Tuesday, Aug. 26
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Head Start classes and home visits for the Fall Term will begin Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003, in the nine-county Green Hills Area. Head Start, sponsored by North Central Missouri College of Trenton operates 11 centers and seven home base programs in this region.
Vicky Hiley, Gallatin teacher/FSA directs the center-based services located at 502 S. Olive Street. Other staff members are teacher aides – Tiffony Esposito, Jean Mott, Kim Terhune and Sherri Pettit, cook. For more information contact Vicky Hiley at 660-663-8976. Children attend full day classes Tuesday through Friday at the Gallatin Head Start Center.
Begun in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty, Head Start has since provided comprehensive child and family development services to millions of children. Studies have shown that Head Start has made an impressive impact not only on improving each child’s success in school, but on their preventative health care, nutritional habits, and upon their parents as well.
Direct involvement of parents in the Head Start Program has given families a greater role in the development of their children. Head Start has also had a strong impact on the training and employment of parents. More than one-third of Head Start staff are current or former Head Start parents, many of whom are certified by or trainees of the Child Development Associated (CDA) program. Large proportions of parents achieve educational and employment goals while in Head Start with the assistance of the literacy efforts incorporated into the regular Head Start services.
The local program, which is funded to serve 277 children, at least 10% of whom receive special services because of disabilities, provides early education activities designed to prepare the children for public school. Each child obtains medical and dental examinations, and parents are helped to bring the child’s immunizations up-to-date before kindergarten.
“To clarify our objective, Head Start seeks to work with parents and caregivers as we prepare their children for kindergarten and the world beyond the classroom setting. The comprehensive nature of Head Start allows our program to focus on education, health, nutrition, social services, and disability issues that our children and families encounter regularly,” commented Beverly Hooker, Head Start director.