Head Start signing up fall students

Robin Thomas instructs students at Head Start. Photo by Torri Barco

Enrollment has begun for next fall's Sisters COCAAN Head Start. Targeted to low-income and special-need families who want hands-on involvement with their pre-schoolers, the free, state-funded pre-school program will have two teachers and will accept 18 children.

Classes will meet for four hours three days per week beginning in September.

Parental involvement appears to be a hallmark of Head Start.

"We try to help the child by helping the family," said Center Coordinator Laura Duran. "We can help the child in pre-school for one year or we can help the family and help the child for an entire life. This is not a program where the parents drop off the child and leave them."

Head Start's family advocates visit each student's home twice a month during the semester to set goals and aid families in achieving them. They direct families to free medical check-ups, volunteer opportunities, parenting classes, job skills and health and nutrition services.

"My first experience with Head Start was as a parent and a volunteer," said Head Start teacher Jill Rowe. "They offered to teach work skills to the parents and since I was a stay-at-home mom and wanted to return to the work force, I used that to my advantage."

Although Head Start is a free program and its teachers typically receive lower pay than those at public schools, the program appears to thoroughly equip students for kindergarten, according to Sisters Elementary School Principal Tim Comfort.

Comfort said 25 to 33 percent of the total kindergarten enrollment is typically Head Start kids. The rest of the student body includes kids from other pre-schools, home schools and special education early identification programs.

"There is a huge range in all groups so it is difficult to make a comparison and say if one group does better," Comfort said. "Some Head Start kids flourish and do well and some have ongoing delays. But we are very pleased with the transition with Head Start teachers talking about the special needs of the students and helping with student planning and registration. The teachers and parents talk about how the kids have grown and recommend summer programs and special support."

Jennifer Thomasson said she enjoys helping in the classroom because the staff encourages her to volunteer and lets her bring her three-year-old child, who isn't in the class. Thomasson has a five-year-old daughter, Emmae, who is in the class, and a seven-year-old.

"A lot of time I'm at home with the kids and so I can't get involved with them at school," Thomasson said. "So this has been really nice."

Each Head Start family advocate (teacher) is required to have an associate's degree, but both the Sisters teachers have bachelor's degrees. Robin Thomas, 45, has a bachelor's in fine arts and an associate's degree in child development. She has worked for Head Start for seven years and is a mother of two.

"I had a behaviorally difficult child and they were able to work with his needs," Thomas said. "Head Start offered me parenting classes and through them I got more involved. Now my son is in the sixth grade and you would not know he has had difficulty. You couldn't pick him out from the rest of the kids."

Jill Rowe, 35, has a Bachelor of Science degree in liberal studies and several hours of teachers' training through the Oregon Association of Education for Young Children (OAECYC), Social Service Competency Based Training (SSCBT) and Portland State University. She has worked for Head Start for five years and is a mother of two.

Regular classroom activities include circle time, outdoor games in the fenced playground, ABC letter matching, two meals and tooth brushing and table work in literacy and art, Duran said.

Head Start serves 284 children locally, with centers in La Pine, Bend, Redmond, Sisters and Prineville. Funding comes from federal and state grants, which require each class to serve at least 10 percent of kids with behavioral and developmental disabilities.

For information or to register, call 548-2380, ext. 129.