Enrollment of children plus hiring now underway
(Seguin) — The Head Start program is on its way to serving even more children thanks to its new physical location here in Seguin. The new Early Head Start and Head Start Center opened its doors this past week at 1575 N. Austin St.
During the summer of 2020, the Community Council of South-Central Texas was awarded the grant to oversee the new full Head Start program. Program Director Julie Cantu says although 3 and 4-year-old students and other families with younger children were being serviced by the program over the last year, there has not been a home for its youngest students.
“In Seguin particularly, we have Early Head Start and Head Start so that’s six weeks to right before they turn 3 which is the Early Head Start age range and then 3- and 4-year-olds are the Head Start age range. We partner with Seguin ISD on the Ball Early Childhood Campus and those children are dual enrolled with Seguin ISD at Ball and at Head Start. So, some of the classrooms, we have eight classrooms that have Head Start children in it at Ball, so we work with Ball. We have an office on the Ball campus. We work with Mrs. (Debra) Reiley to dual enroll the children with our program and Seguin ISD, said Cantu.
Cantu says unfortunately, finding a new home and getting the program off the ground proved challenging during a pandemic.
Nonetheless, she says staff has not missed a beat when it comes to ensuring services and staying connected with families.
“We have renovated the building which took a long time — COVID setbacks with getting supplies and resources in so the building has been renovated and then we did orders with different childcare setting furniture companies like Lakeshore and Kaplan to get all new furniture, all new toys, all new books. We got the playground installed and fencing so it’s been a work in progress over the last year. We have hired staff. We are providing services curbside which they would come once a week and pick up a packet of activities and then we’d also do virtual live lessons with our teachers – one in the morning and one in the afternoon daily for each age group at our center,” said Cantu.
Cantu says now with a new full Head Start Center in place, the program is prepared to meet the needs of eligible families.
“We will take six weeks to three-year-old. When fully enrolled, we’ll have 46 children – two classrooms of 3-year-olds with 15 in each classroom – a teacher and teacher assistant in each Head Start classroom so it will be 15 children to two adults and then we will have an infant which will be at eight children with two teachers and the toddler classroom that will also have eight toddlers and two teachers,” said Cantu.
Cantu says the Head Start program for years has been credited with giving children that jump start in their education.
“The biggest thing I think is great about Head Start is that it is a family approach so we know success of a child at school starts at home so if we can make sure and help guide the family to the resources and give them referrals to what they need at home, then the student will probably be more successful at school and then while they are at Head Start enrolled in the centers and receiving services, they get that early education which is a key factor to being prepared for kindergarten starting young so even in our infant classrooms, there is a curriculum based learning approach even for the infants and toddlers so starting early I think is the key,” said Cantu.
Not only does Head Start assist foster children and students from low-income families, but Cantu says it also gets to implement its mission of ensuring the overall well being of each of their families.
“We contract with a nutritionist and so she is providing recipes on a weekly basis if families have nutrition questions, she is available. We work with Connections for mental health referrals, counseling referrals and so we have been working with the families. We’ve had them enrolled. We just now have a home where we can serve those children and start the Head Start program in person,” said Cantu.
With doors now officially open, Cantu says enrollment for the program is still being accepted.
“We are still enrolling children. We have one classroom of 3-year-olds open currently and then (Monday, Oct.18), we will open the toddler classroom. We are opening it based on staffing and the number of children enrolled in those classes, so we do still have room for 3-year-olds, toddlers and infants at the center. The application is online. The web address is www.ccsct.org or they can stop by the Seguin Head Start Center and pick up a paper application,” said Cantu.
Cantu says hiring is also well underway for its Head Start programs both here in Seguin and in New Braunfels.
“So, not only are we enrolling students, we are also hiring and recruiting for staff. We are signed up for a couple of job fairs coming up at the end of October and we are hiring teachers and teacher assistants and family service specialists that work with the family and enrolls them and gets them referrals. So, we have openings for the Early Head Start and Head Start program. They can apply on the Community Council of South-Central Texas website under ‘careers,’” said Cantu.
A special ribbon cutting ceremony was held last week at the new Early Head Start and Head Start Center. On hand for the ceremony were elected officials, Seguin ISD officials and members of both the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce and the Seguin-Guadalupe County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.