SANTA ANA : City Preschoolers Can Get Head Start

Preschoolers from low-income families will have the opportunity to get a “head start” on kindergarten beginning Monday by participating in a federally funded Head Start program offered through the Santa Ana Unified School District for the first time.

The highly regarded program is available to families who live on the west side of Santa Ana and meet stringent guidelines set by the federal government. The program is already offered to students who live in the east side of the city through the Council of Affiliated Negro Organizations (CANO).

“What Head Start will do for our youngsters is give them some of the readiness skills that they may not have gotten at home,’ said Susan Despenas, assistant to the district superintendent.

The district has received two grants totaling $451,000 to start the program, which will be offered to 136 youngsters between 3 and 5. The children will learn to think, develop language skills and gain confidence.

“The children are able to go into kindergarten with a handle on things,” Despenas said. “They are able to feel good about themselves and they know how to interact with other children.”

Head Start was launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. It not only aims to prepare children for kindergarten, but also seeks to break the poverty cycle by helping children and their parents become contributing members of the community.

Parental involvement is an integral part of the program. Parents are encouraged to attend 10 parenting sessions offered by the district’s Head Start staff. These sessions include topics such as basic nutrition needs, how to discipline a child in a positive way and how to help a child’s intellectual development, Despenas said.

Head Start staff members will spend four days a week in the classroom with the children and spend a fifth day visiting the homes of participants to interact with their family.

The program also provides participants with meals, health care and transportation to and from class.

Students will be supervised in the classroom by a teacher, an instructional assistant and a parent. There will be 17 students in each class.