Our Focus Areas

Head Start is a partnership.

We believe the answers to challenges many West Virginia families face can be found within. Head Start works with the family unit as a whole—empowering families to strive for health, happiness, and security by connecting them to the resources they may need. Each person comes to Head Start with a unique story and the potential to overcome their hurdles; our programs provide support and structure for children and parents, by collaborating with organizations that will help families thrive.

West Virginia Head Start provides children with essential educational resources, including school readiness, so that every child is awarded an opportunity to learn. WVHS programs help parents grow as individuals, professionally and within their families, through training and leadership opportunities. Head Start offers these services with the ultimate goal of providing the opportunity for success to each participating family.

Health

The health and well being of a child is dependent on a family’s access to quality care; many West Virginia families are unsure of where to turn when their child is ill or living with a disability, and expenses are often exceedingly high. Head Start connects families to the available resources, which provide extra support and care for children to grow strong and healthy.

Family

Head Start believes in the strength of the family unit, and encourages a parent’s role as their child’s first and most important teacher. WVHS programs build relationships with participating families, supporting strong communication between parents and their children, total family well-being, and positive connections within a family’s community.

Head Start helped Malissa Floyd stay connected with her young family while she faced incarceration.

Education

Education is the key to a child’s long-term success; prekindergarten school readiness has proven an essential component of a child’s future success and stability. Around the nation, low-income students who participated in early intervention programs like Head Start proved more successful in their later years (see the Abecedarian Project). Head Start ensures that each child, regardless of one’s income or disabilities, has the opportunity to receive a quality education so that they may actively participate in their child’s growth and learning.

To learn more about how Head Start helped support a mother reach her own educational goals, read Emily Elkin’s powerful story of perseverance and determination.