The Community Action Commission’s Head Start program in Santa Barbara County was recently recognized for their outstanding excellence in early childhood education.
Results from the 2011 preschool classroom observations with the Classroom Assessment Scoring Systems (CLASS tool) were released this month and show that the Head Start program in Santa Barbara Country excels well above the national average.
Coupled with this good news on local early childhood education, Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, will be honored this month as California’s 2012 Friend Head Start for her unwavering support of California’s Head Start programs, which play a key role in the transformation of early childhood education.
“Congresswomen Capps has long been an enduring advocate for Head Start in Congress and wholeheartedly believes in the value of the Head Start program for the child, family and the community,” CAC Executive Director Fran Forman said. “Community Action Commission and First 5 are thrilled that she has been recognized for her extraordinary efforts in supporting the youngest members of our community and their families.”
Twenty-five randomly selected Head Start classrooms were observed last spring by the Triennial Federal On-Site Monitoring review. Observations were based on 10 categories, from behavior management to a positive climate in the classroom.
“Having our early childhood program score above the national average is due to a combination of factors. The First 5 School Readiness initiatives create new connections with elementary schools for these young children and their families. But most importantly, the teachers are the key component to these successful classroom results,” CAC Children’s Services Director Mattie Gadsby said. “CAC educators continue to develop professionally by combining patience, good instincts and cultural sensitivity, with skilled intentional teaching and their own professional growth in areas such as children’s language development, dual language learning, math and science, using the outdoor classroom and engaging with parents as the primary educator of their child. Since September 2011, CAC teachers have been focusing on the skills of ‘language modeling’ to improve learning outcomes for young children. We expect to see the CLASS scores rise in this area this year.”
The support of these early educational programs seems to have paid off. The National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning observed the CAC Head Start programs and teachers and as a result they were selected to be videotaped for national teacher trainings as part of the Head Start agenda of high quality for all programs.
CAC and First 5 will celebrate the Santa Barbara County Head Start program successes and honor Rep. Capps and the many others who have worked tirelessly to support the Santa Barbara County Head Start program from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday at the Goleta Head Start, in the Goleta Valley Community Center, 5679 Hollister Ave. in Goleta.
“In a challenging economy with state and local budget cuts nipping at school budgets, this is one success in education that we feel we must celebrate.” Forman said.
— Tami Snow represents Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County.
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