Addressing Needs from Birth-Age 5
Head Start/Early Head Start
The SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start program serves more than 860 families and children birth through age five, including children with special needs, throughout St. Clair County. The program also provides services to expectant mothers. The program is housed in 12 early childhood centers, seven managed directly by SIUE staff and five collaborations. The program includes a rigorous school readiness program and provides comprehensive services, such as health/dental screenings and family engagement and support activities.
Four SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start centers received Gold Circle of Quality designations from ExceleRate Illinois. The designation celebrates early learning providers who meet or go beyond the highest quality of early childhood education standards. Several Head Start parents and teachers have received Parent of the Year and Teacher of the Year state and regional awards in recent years.
A full 80 percent of Head Start participants show mastery in five out of six standards across all age groups based on the nationally recognized Teaching Strategies Gold Assessment.
