Management/Staff
Head Start Announces ‘Head Start Forward’ Campaign to Help Programs Get Back to Full In-Person Enrollment
This past June, we wrote a blog outlining Head Start’s expectations for programs in the 2021-2022 school year. In it, we explained how the Office of Head Start (OHS) is expecting all programs to work towards full in-person enrollment for this program year. We explained that while OHS had originally supported virtual and remote services…
The African American Boys Project: Implementing Culturally Responsive, Strength-Based Practices
This is the fourth and final blog in our series on the OHS publication Supporting School Readiness and Success of Young African American Boys Project. In our first three blogs, we talked about the origins of the project, defined the culturally responsive lens, and talked about why it focuses on African American boys in the…
The African American Boys Project: The Culturally Responsive Lens
This is the second blog in our four-part series on the training document, Supporting School Readiness and Success in African American Boys Project. In our first blog of the series, “An Introduction to the “Supporting the School Readiness and Success of African American Boys Project,” we mentioned the Culturally Responsive Strength-Based (CRSB) Framework. It’s this…
How to Hire a Head Start Consultant: An Update for the Post-COVID era
Way back in 2013, we wrote a blog called “How to Hire a Head Start Consultant.” In it, we outlined some of the major reasons your program might consider hiring an outside consultant, including filling gaps in expertise amongst your staff, as well as the benefit of an outsider without preconceived notions that can help…
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…