BUENA PARK : Head Start Seeing Positive, Early Results

Norma Lopez says her 4-year-old daughter, Yolanda, used to have behavioral problems. Then the girl entered a preschool learning program being offered for the first time by the Centralia School District.

Since then, there has been a dramatic difference in her daughter, Lopez said.

“It’s changed her behavior--she picks up after herself and gets along better with others,” Lopez said.

Lopez’s daughter is among the more than 50 children attending the Head Start program, which started last month and serves low-income families in the Buena Park area.

Lopez and other parents agree that the program gives their children a start at being successful in school.

“It prepares her for kindergarten,” Lopez said.

The Centralia School District was awarded a federal grant to start the Head Start program--the only school district in Orange County last year to receive funding to build a Head Start facility, said Elaine Hutchins, the district’s coordinator of bilingual programs.

Hutchins said all costs of the program, including the $300,000 to build the classroom facility, 6627 La Cienega Drive, were paid with federal funds.

The program, free to those who qualify under federal guidelines for low-income families, is held inside a modular classroom on the campus of Raymond Temple Elementary.

Hutchins said Head Start offers children a comprehensive program that includes meeting their educational, social, health, nutritional and psychological needs.

“We saw the need to get children in preschool to give them access to learning experiences, which would allow them to be successful in school later on,” Hutchins said.

Lily Gorban, director of the Head Start program, said it is open only to 4-year-olds. The program already has 52 children enrolled but can accommodate up to 102 children, she said.

The Head Start grant requires parent participation in the program. Parents attend meetings or volunteer in the classroom, while at the same time, become more involved in their child’s education.

“There are parents who have no parenting skills and (by being involved) they can become aware of the need to create independence in their child and how to motivate their child to be academically successful,” Hutchins said.

Parent Mona Marquez, whose son, Robert Ledesma, attends Head Start, agreed that parent involvement is important in order for both students and the program to be successful.

“It’s a good program as long as we have parent cooperation, because everything starts at home with the parents,” said Marquez, a parent volunteer.