All of New York’s children deserve high quality early educational experiences. New York State Head Start Association recognizes and embraces our role as the major and most successful provider of early educational services to the neediest of those children in New York.
In New York, Head Start programs are a premier provider of developmental and educational services for pregnant moms, babies, toddlers, preschoolers and their families who live in poverty and struggle to meet the basic needs of life.
Local Head Start programs are vital in New York State because they are rooted in virtually every community and reflect the cultural and social fabric of each community. New York Head Start programs are a part of a national program for young children, and there are Head Start programs and centers in every county of this State, in every state across the US, and in all U.S. territories and on American Indian reservations.
-
Studies have shown that Head Start children experience increased achievement test scores, decreased grade repetition and special education needs, and increased graduation rates(Barnett, 2002; Garces, Thomas and Currie, 2002)