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Northwest Arkansas Head Start
The mission of Northwest Arkansas Head Start is to enable children and their families to realize the opportunities for developing their full potential. We do this through the provision of a free child development program coupled with social service outreach.
Description:
Head Start is a comprehensive federal program for children from ages three to five and their families. The Head Start Program is based on the premise that all children share certain needs, and that children of low-income families, in particular, can benefit from a comprehensive developmental program to meet those needs. The Head Start Program approach is based on the philosophy that:
- A child can benefit most from a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program to foster development and remedy problems as expressed in a broad range of services, and that;
- The child’s entire family, as well as the community must be involved. The program should maximize the strengths and unique experiences of each child. The family, which is perceived as the principal influence on the child’s development, must be a direct participant in the program. Local communities are allowed latitude in developing creative program designs so long as the basic goals, objectives and standards of a comprehensive program are adhered to.
- The overall goal of the Head Start program is to bring about a greater degree of social competence in children of low-income families. By social competence it meant the child’s everyday effectiveness in dealing with both present environment and later responsibilities in school and life.
History:
In 1966 the Economic Opportunity Agency of Benton County, Inc. a private, non-profit Community Action Agency established by and operating under the authority of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, applied for funding to provide Head Start services to low-income families in Benton County. At the same time the Economic Opportunity Agency of Carroll and Madison Counties applied for funding to provide Head Start services to their communities. The Head Start program was funded for the summer of 1967. The funding was for a 9-week summer program that concentrated mainly on providing health services to children that would be going into first grade in the fall. The public schools provided classroom space. The teachers were public school teachers and the teacher aides were parents of Head Start children.
The Economic Opportunities Agencies applied for funds for an ongoing Head Start program that ran on the same timetable as the public schools. The funding was approved and in the fall of 1967 Head Start became a school-year program. The public school teachers had returned to their jobs in the public school systems. There were no qualification guidelines for Head Start teachers. The agency looked first for someone with a degree (any kind of a degree) then for someone with experience working with young children. The teacher aide positions were required to be filled by past and present Head Start parents. Two parents were hired for the same position each working for one half of the day. The reason for this was two-fold, more parents were exposed to ways of working with young children and the job helped two families financially. When all the staff were looking forward to being off for the summer of 1968 an announcement was made that the program would operate full-year and full-day. The goal of the Community Action Agency was to identify and eliminate the causes of poverty, therefore, by making this change, low-income individuals could go to work and the working poor would be helped by providing a safe environment with comprehensive services for children while the parents worked.
In 1970 the Benton, Carroll and Madison County Community Action Agencies were combined into one agency and the name changed to the Office of Human Concern. Head Start remained under the umbrella of the Office of Human Concern until 1982. In 1982 the Head Start program separated from the Office of Human Concern and became a limited purpose agency. As a limited purpose agency Northwest Arkansas Head Start Human Services, Inc. is limited to providing only child related services.
In 1965 Head Start focused primarily on preparing the child for school. The belief was that a healthy child would do better in school. As time went by many changes came about in Head Start. One of the biggest changes was in the amount of paperwork. In the early days of the program there was very little paperwork. Today everything that is done with the child and their family must be documented thoroughly. In 1984 Head Start Program Performance Standards were developed and implemented to ensure that the Head Start Goals were met.
The Performance Standards and Objectives provide for:
- The improvement of the child’s health and physical abilities, including appropriate steps to correct present physical and mental problems and to enhance every child’s access to an adequate diet. The improvement of the family’s attitude toward future health care and physical abilities.
- The encouragement of self-confidence, spontaneity, curiosity, and self-discipline, which will assist in the development of the child’s social and emotional health.
- The enhancement of the child’s mental processes and skills with particular attention to conceptual and communication skills.
- The establishment of patterns and expectations of success for the child, which will create a climate of confidence for present and future learning efforts and overall development.
- An increase in the ability of the child and the family to relate to each other and to others.
- The enhancement of the sense of dignity and self-worth within the child and his family.
In 1967 the Community Action Agencies in the 3 county area provided services to 219 children. Head Start center sites were located in Siloam Springs, Gravette and Bentonville in Benton County, Berryville and Green Forest in Carroll County, Huntsville, Saint Paul and Kingston in Madison County. During the 36 year period between 1967 and 2003 the local program sites have changed, some were added and terminated and some were added and are still in operation. A center was opened in Eureka Springs in Benton County and then closed after a couple of years. A center would again reopen in Eureka Springs in 1998. In Madison County centers at Kingston and Combs were closed and a Home Based program was implemented to help provide Head Start services to the more isolated areas of the county. In 2001 the Rogers Airport center was relocated and renamed the Rogers Hallie Martin center.
In 2009 NWA Head Start is funded to serve 504 children. In the 3 county area there are 11 local program sites. Bentonville, Decatur, Gentry, Pea Ridge, Rogers Hallie Martin, Rogers Arkansas Street and Siloam Springs centers are all located in Benton County. Carroll County centers are in Berryville and Green Forest. Two Head Start options are operating in Madison County. A center-based program provides services to Huntsville. The Home Based program provides services to all of Madison County and their office is located in Huntsville.
Contact person: Jennifer Dunham, Director, Community Outreach, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (479) 631-1119
Address:
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210 N. 13th StreetRogers, AR 72756(See a map) |
Web Site: http://www.nwaheadstart.org
Directions:
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Take I-540 North or South EXIT 85- toward ROGERS. Go East on Walnut, then North onto N 13th Street. We are located on the west side of 13th Street, approx. 1 block north of Walnut. |
| Last updated on April 15, 2009 |
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