HEAD START

Kathyrn Massie, Director
Gari Melchers Complex
610 Gayle Street
Fredericksburg, Virginia  22405
Phone:  (540) 368-2559  -  Fax:  (540) 368-1978

Head Start is now accepting applications for two new 4-year old classes starting in January 2010. 

For more information, please click on the English or Spanish flyer below.

Head Start is a federally funded comprehensive preschool readiness program designed to meet the social, emotional, health, nutritional and physical needs of eligible children from low-income families. More than just an educational program, Head Start involves the whole family and community. The services provided include education, disabilities, health, dental, mental health, nutrition, parent involvement, parent education, social services and transition. Three and four year old children whose families fall within 100% of the national poverty guidelines are eligible. Enrollment is available to children regardless of race, sex, creed, national origin, or handicapping condition. The Head Start program encourages the active recruitment of children with special needs. Applications are ranked based on needs of the child and family.

Meeting Students’ Needs

Parents and teachers partner together to screen the children for appropriate development in self-help, social, motor, language, and cognitive skills, as well as for health, dental, vision, hearing, behavior and emotional concerns. Parents and teachers write individual goals for each child, progress on the goals is monitored, and goals are revised with the parents mid-year. Daily lesson plans include objectives for individual students and records are kept of individual assistance provided each child. The classrooms provide active learning experiences with a variety of materials and equipment so that children have opportunities to express their feelings, explore new situations, and be successful. Children are encouraged to make choices, to solve problems, initiate activities, experiment and to question.

Resources and Websites

Head Start: http://www.headstartva.org
Administration for Children and Families: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc
Head Start Bureau: www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/hsb
Smart Beginnings: www.smartbeginnings.org

Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

Stafford Schools Head Start provides a developmental curriculum designed to provide literacy and language development, early mathematical skills, fine and gross motor physical development, begin scientific inquiry skills, and foster creativity in music, art, movement and dramatic play. The curriculum also provides direct instruction for development of social and emotional skills, nutrition, health and safety practices. Early literacy development focuses on alphabetic knowledge, print and book concepts, Vocabulary and phonemic skills are taught in the context of books, songs, and rhymes through sound matching, rhyming, alliteration, substituting sounds, and identifying beginning and ending sounds. Daily instructional objectives and activities are based on the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework and the High/Scope curriculum key experiences. Children plan, do, and review their activities each day, using the High/Scope model. Students are assessed three times each year with the Stafford Head Start Skills Assessment. Four-year-old students also are assessed in the fall and spring on pre-reading skills with the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening as well as with the Head Start National Reporting System assessment. Teachers meet at least four times a year with parents to discuss the child’s progress.

Parental Involvement

Parents serve on the Stafford Head Start Policy Council, making program planning, policy, and personnel decisions, as well as assessing the quality of each aspect of the program. Parent workshops and activities are held each month, with information on budgeting, job search training, nutrition and meal planning, CPR and first aid, safety, health, and mental health topics, child abuse prevention, substance abuse, domestic violence, and healthy relationships. Fatherhood development and male involvement activities are held each month. Family events are planned throughout the year. GED and parenting classes are held on-site. Each classroom strives to achieve 100% parent involvement with parents invited to volunteer as often as possible and to contribute activity ideas related to the curriculum. Parents contribute anecdotal notes on the progress of their child for the Skills Assessment and work with the teacher to write individual goals for the child. Teachers make at least two home visits each year.