LAGUNA BEACH : District May Begin Head Start Program

With the number of students who speak little or no English now hovering at 17% at one city elementary school, the district is moving to begin a federally funded Head Start program during the next school year.

Since last fall, volunteers have canvassed neighborhoods and distributed literature to parents in adult education classes trying to identify those who need the program, which readies 3- and 4-year-old children from low-income families for kindergarten.

“It’s going to be a big boost,” said Robert Klempen, a district spokesman. “Our whole staff and administration is very excited about getting these students up to speed as quickly as possible.”

Word on whether the federal government will fund a Laguna Beach program should be received by March or April.

If approved, district Supt. Dennis Smith said the program would be conducted at the Top of the World Elementary School campus.

Funding would provide teachers, materials, buses and, if necessary, a portable classroom, he said.

The percentage of students who speak little if any English has jumped by at least 10% over the past year at Thurston Middle School and Laguna Beach High School, said David Dixon, who teaches English language.

Most of the children are Latino, he said.

At El Morro Elementary School, the percentage has reached 17%, up 12 percentage points from four years ago, said Gwen Gross, the principal.

Teachers and administrators have scrambled to learn Spanish, to keep up with the trend, Gross said.

Head Start programs, which are heavily populated by Latino children, offer early childhood educational programs, health and nutritional services and encourage parents to become more involved in school decisions.

Laguna teachers and administrators say such a program would be a boon to the district.

“I think that it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve heard of in Laguna, as far as the community, in a long time,” Dixon said.