Management/Staff
Putting together a COVID-19 vaccine policy for your Head Start program
As of the writing of this blog, approximately 44% of Americans 18 and over have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with one of the three approved vaccines, with an additional 20% say they plan on getting it soon. So what about the other 30-40%? For the past few weeks, vaccine rates have been slowing down.…
Making sure your facilities are safe to reopen
When reopening your building after a prolonged shutdown, whether it was due to a natural disaster or a reduction in operations because of the pandemic, you’ll want to consider a few things to ensure the health and safety of staff and students. In September, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released recommendations for businesses and…
Serving Families in a Remote Environment: Tips for Family Services Staff
In the digital age there are many tools we are able to use to stay connected while working remotely and provide digital education. It is paramount that we use these tools to stay connected with parents and support them while at home with their kids. If children aren’t in classrooms, family services staff are even…
What to Consider Before Reopening Your Head Start Center
As we come around to the end of the summer, and the time of year again where we begin preparing for children to go back to school, there are many things to consider amid the COVID-19 crisis. Although many of the policies and procedures necessary for caring for children and staff during the pandemic should…
Head Start and COVID-19: What you need to know
The current issue of COVID-19 has raised a lot of questions, including the discussion of how it is affecting our schools. More than just classrooms and hallways, for some families school is a haven for their children. Now with the closure of many schools and programs across the country, its left families with the challenge…
Partnering with Your Local Receiving Schools
As a Head Start leader, building relationships within your local receiving schools is one of the best ways to both understand and plan for the process of transitioning a child from Head Start to kindergarten. However, as with most things, that doesn’t just happen automatically or overnight. It takes time to form a plan, and…
The 10 Commandments of Onboarding your Head Start Staff
Employees are one of the most important resources we have in Head Start. Last week, we announced a new training, Onboarding your Head Start Staff. While we have always included elements of employee onboarding in our trainings, as part of our comprehensive Knowledge Management system, we have separated onboarding into its own stand-alone training. With…
What Education Levels are Required for Head Start Staff?
Head Start wants to ensure that the staff and teachers who are serving local families have the appropriate education to do so. The Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center (ECLKC) hosts a series of briefs that outlines all the educational requirements for the majority of Head Start staff positions, everything from Executive Directors to Home…
Bus Drivers Can Play an Important Role in Family Engagement
As we know, parent/family engagement is one of the most important and longest-lasting benefits of Head Start. To do it right, it requires an all-hands-on-deck mentality. Every interaction with a parent or caregiver, no matter how small or fleeting it may seem, should be considered when putting together the best plan for family engagement. After…
Vaccination Requirements for Head Start/Early Head Start
Head Start at the national level does not have any explicit rules regarding the vaccination status of children who attend local programs (a bill proposed in 2015 would’ve required all Head Start children to be vaccinated, but never made it to a vote). As it stands now, it is only mentioned once in the Head…