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History of Head Start |
The overall goal of Head Start is to increase children’s school readiness. For 45 years Head Start has provided education and comprehensive child development services to young children from low-income families. Originally created in 1965 as a summer program for preschool children, Congress expanded the program the following year. In 1994 Early Head Start was established to include infants, toddlers and pregnant women.
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| In 2009 more than 15,500 children in MA received Head Start/Early Head Start services. MA currently receives $116,800,000 in federal Head Start funds to provide early education, health and social services to low-income children and families that are awarded through grants to local programs in cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth. Programs are required to raise 20% in non-federal funds as a condition of their grants. |
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 To learn what the Office of Head Start is doing to improve school readiness outcomes among Head Start children, see the Improving School Readiness & Promoting Long-Term Success: The Head Start Roadmap to Excellence. For more information about Head Start’s history,
click here. |
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| Photo: © Don West |
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| Office of Head Start Director Yvette Sanchez Fuentes at Action for Boston Community Development, Inc., April 2010 |
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- “Head Start will
continue to serve as
the foundation and
national laboratory for promoting best practices
in the field of early
childhood development
and education.”
- Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, January 2010
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