Volume 0824 | August 2024

PA Head Start Association highlights our advocacy, promotes civic engagement, serves our members through professional learning and celebrates our programs. The Association values our program members and their mission-focused work along-side families, with children and within their communities.

-MAKE SURE TO CLICK THE PHOTOS THROUGHOUT FOR ADDITIONAL CONTENT-

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Early Intel helps program managers work smarter, not harder:

- Coaching on monitoring and assessment

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- Mastermind peer network

- Quality improvement sprints

- Federal review prep

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Dear Early Head Start and Head Start Friends and Community,



Did you know the Dog Days of Summer span from July into August? Sirius the Dog Star rises at dawn and is the brightest star (outside of the sun of course) during these hot weeks. It was thought that the wicked bright Sirius, along with the blazing sun combined to create the extreme temperatures at this time of the year.

I’m always up for learning something new, which is true for you too. Head Start is a thriving, robust, evolving entity which requires each of us to continually learn. During a recent business trip to Washington D.C., I attended Wind Down Wednesday at the National Cathedral. Ubering through a massive summer storm and local flooding, we arrived to see “Creation,” the rose stain glass window installed above the nave doors just as the evening sun emerged from the dark clouds. Thanks to a paperweight inserted by the glazier into the design of the window, a lightshow appears as the sun aligns directly with it. Astonishing. The docent’s excitement to teach us, ‘share the light’ so to speak, was infectious. I am delighted to share my friend Julie’s video of our learning moment.

Learning and teaching are the foundations of Head Start and the culture within the PA Head Start Association. I invite you to teach us about your journey in Head Start. Tell us  your Head Start story so that it informs others, and we can better advocate for Head Start.

Take a few minutes, and beat the heat during these Dog Days, to read our August Newsletter - make sense of the State Budget with insights from PA Partnerships for Children; celebrate and applaud PA sister Head Start programs; meet our Associate Partners and learn about the solutions they can offer to our member programs; access free lesson plans from Learning Lamp; capture Voter Registration dates to share with your Head Start staff, families and community; meet one of our Board Directors and so much more.



What is your learning take-away this month? 

Best,

Kara McFalls

Executive Director

Bucks County IU

As the school year ends, the Bucks IU holds events focused on supporting the social wellness of our staff. All Bucks IU team members are invited to come out and share some relaxing, quality time together, supporting lots of conversations, smiles, laughter, and team building.

Child Advocates of Blair County

The Child Advocates of Blair County program participated in the the Agricultural Parade in Martinsburg, Pa.

KenCrest Services

KenCrest staff completed a two week intensive curriculum training.

One teacher wrote: "I have been positively impacted to make changes to incorporate Highscope into EVERY area of my work. This has impacted how I will move forward with my interactions with children and adults.”

Head Start programs have existed in Pennsylvania since 1965, we have many Alumni! Meet a different Alumni each month through our newsletter.

-Introducing Corey Peterson-

I was a student at the Jefferson-Clarion Head Start program from 1987 to 1989 at the Knox Center. My mother became a classroom aide and eventually the office manager at the Jefferson-Clarion Head Start.

My mother divorced my father when I was very young after years of an abusive marriage and when I was three the opportunity for me to attend Head Start and for her to become an active volunteer presented itself and she seized the opportunity for both of us. Head Start gave me pre school that I needed to succeed and instilled a confidence in my mother that no one had ever seen before.

Today, as a husband and a father to a 7 and 3 year old I understand the enormous value of early childhood education, not just for children, but for a child’s entire family. Head Start being the catalyst that pushed my Mother and I to gain confidence and break a generational cycle of abuse and missed opportunities and teach her and I that achieving our dreams were not out of reach.

A lot of people ask me what my favorite thing is and I always respond very genuinely “being a dad”.

Be sure Head Start voices are

heard in this election year

EDUCATE:

Mail-in ballots were redesigned, in hopes to decrease the amount of rejected ballots. This new design did decrease the rejection rate by 9.6%, however, still over 15,000 ballots were rejected.

ACTION:

Programs are encouraged to make voting a topic of conversation with families. The top four reasons a ballot is rejected includes: wrong date, no date, missing secrecy envelope, or lack of signature. If our programs helped to ensure families have correctly submitted their ballots, more Head Start voices could be heard.

Call to Action: Head Start Voice

iLookOut

Oral Health and Children

Ready-Made Lesson Plans by Learning Lamp

Is the United States Your New Home?

Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center has provided Head Start brochures in 12 different languages for programs to use, allowing a more inclusive, equitable program.

Pennsylvania State Budget

America's Cost of Parenting Crisis

For many Americans, the joy of raising a child has become a financial headache and a constant source of worry as they struggle to keep up with the rising cost of housing and child care.

Early Education is the Most Segregated Learning Space

The Youngest Pandemic Children Are Now in School,

and Struggling 

Study reveals most Crucial Years for Child Development

Jeff Koppel Memorial Scholarships Fund

The Jeff Koppel Memorial Head Start Scholarship Fund honors the life and valuable contributions Jeff Koppel made to the Head Start community. In 2024 the final three recipients were awarded the scholarship. 

On the website is the Head Start Job Widget. When your program advertises on the PHSA Job Board, the position is an eye-catching feature on our front page! Contact brandie@paheadstart.org

Thank you to all of our members!



Update program contacts in this new program year. Log in to the member profile to review and make the necessary changes, PHSA Program Map.

Download the PHSA Members Guide to refresh the map!

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National Head Start Association

When it comes to moving Congress, there's strength in numbers.

National Head Start Association relies on your voice for advocacy and engagement in DC and across the country.

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