Head Start pushes for early sign-up

Parents can register their children year-round for Head Start programs. It’s more beneficial to register sooner rather than later because openings are limited.

Head Start promotes school readiness of young children from low-income families through agencies, according to the Head Start website. The program supports the mental, social, and emotional development of children from birth to age 5.

Head Start also supports and encourages the parental role as their child’s first teacher.

“We’ve had a lot to come in already with early recruitment,” said Family Services Supervisor Pearl Rack, of the St. Mary Community Action Agency. “We started early recruitment with the Head Start parade.

“So, we have a number of applications. They are constantly coming in to register.”

St. Mary Community Action Agency supervises St. Mary and Vermilion parishes Head Start programs. Altogether, there are 646 slots available. In St. Mary, 340 slots are open and in Vermilion, 306.

The numbers of open seats for sites in east St. Mary Parish are:

Baby Bear in Morgan City: 45

Cinderella in Patterson: 27

Tweety Bird in Berwick: 16

Winnie the Pooh in Amelia: 17

Yogi Bear in Brownell Homes: 14

“We have this recruitment because there are still some people that have not registered,” Rack said. “And we want to make sure that we give the right slots to those people who are most qualified.

“This is the reason why we’re still having ongoing registration. But it’s almost time for us to turn in all the applications that we have to screen them and make sure they are approved correctly. And so we’re trying to get as many as possible in.”

Students are not selected through a lottery or first-come, first-served selection process. Children are selected based on federal guidelines and a point system.

If the number of qualified students exceeds the number of open slots available at a site, they are put on a waiting list.

The class size limit for a 4-year-old class is 20. The limit for a 3-year-old class is 17.

“Depending on the age, they could be in a mixed class,” Rack said. “But we try to get all 4-year-olds together and all 3-year-olds.”

There is no fee to register. Children can qualify for the program at 3 years old.

“A lot of parents are not aware that their children could qualify at three years old,” Rack said. “And they can qualify at 3 years old as long as they are three years old before Sept. 30.

An ongoing registration process makes it possible and easier for qualifying children to be selected at a site.

Throughout the year, “if there are openings, we have kids to move, if after Sept. 30 during that time of birth, they come in during their birthday and they can get in if qualified during that time also.”

For the 2015 school year, Louisiana received $1.7 million in federal funding for Head Start programs. And 21,655 children were enrolled.

Nationally, Head Start programs served 944,581 children from birth to age 5 and pregnant women in 2015. The federal funding amount totaled $8.2 billion.

Forty-four percent were 4-year-olds and 36 percent of 3-year-olds were enrolled. Eighteen percent of children were 2 years old and under. Children five years old and older made up 1 percent.

Forty-three percent of participants were white. Twenty-nine percent of participants identified as African-American. Other racial or ethnic groups represented were 27 percent.

Head Start enrollment included 12 percent of children with disabilities. About three percent of infants and toddlers and 6 percent of preschool age children were identified with disabilities.

A very small percentage of Head Start teachers did not have college degrees.

Ninety-six percent of pre-school teachers have an associate’s degree or higher in early childhood education or related field. Of the 96 percent, 73 percent have bachelor’s degrees or higher.

Head Start recruitment events will be held June 27-29. The east St. Mary Parish event is June 27 at Baby Bear Head Start Center in Morgan City. It will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 2 p.m.

For more information about St. Mary Parish Head Start programs, call 337-828-5703.