To commemorate this occasion, a Community Partner Appreciation Breakfast was held on April 27, 2012 to recognize those individuals and organizations that have supported Head Start through three decades of providing services to children, families and the community in Sacramento County.
Birth and Beyond Family Resource Centers (Video)
Today more than ever, when budgets are tight and resources are limited, programs must collaborate to ensure low income families receive all of the services they need. Head Start and Birth and Beyond Family Resource Center partner to help build strong families, meet the needs of children ages zero to five and ensure families receive all the necessary resources and support to thrive.
As a valued partner, Birth and Beyond offers Head Start families a variety of services including parenting workshops, school readiness classes, crisis intervention services and family activities.
Thank you Birth and Beyond for your dedicated services to children and families in our community.
California State University, Sacramento (Video)
In 1992, SETA Head Start partnered with California State University, Sacramento – Child Development Department, to provide college students hands-on, practical teaching experiences in child development classrooms. The Substitute Teacher program and the Academic Curriculum Enrichment and Support project, also known as “ACES”, have brought more than 900 college students paid and volunteer opportunities to work in the SETA Head Start classrooms.
Each semester, CSUS provides 30-50 students to serve as paid substitute teachers in the Head Start classrooms. The students are enrolled in work participation college coursework that blends practical learning theories in early care and education with hands-on experience in the preschool and infant/toddler classrooms.
In addition to substitute teachers, CSUS also provides 30-50 students per semester to participate in the Academic Curriculum Enrichment and Support project, also known as “ACES”. The ACES volunteer students provide small group math and literacy support to children in the classroom.
In response to the 2007 Head Start mandate for all teachers to possess an associates degree or higher, CSUS and SETA launched its first on-site Early Care and Education Bachelor Degree Cohort Program. In May 2010, 31 cohort students graduated with their Bachelor’s degree in Early Care and Education – Sixteen of those are SETA staff; 8 of which were first generation college graduates.
Thank you Natalie Pierce and Dr. Karen Horobin for your tireless efforts to educate our workforce and to bring new recruits to the field of child development.
County of Sacramento – Smile Keepers Dental Health Program Video
For over 24 years Head Start has worked with the County of Sacramento Dental Health Program, Smile Keepers. This partnership has provided on-site parent and child oral health education; provided toothbrushes and toothpaste to children; provided dental vans to ensure children without dental insurance had access to restorative care; and annual tooth fluoride varnishes for preschoolers as a preventative measure against dental disease and dental carries.
Over 102,000 Head Start children have received preventative dental care and screenings since 1981, in large part due to Smile Keepers involvement.
Thank you Smile Keepers for ensuring children have beautiful smiles in Sacramento County.
Health Education Council (Video)
We all know that children need to eat nutritious, well-balanced meals to energize their minds and bodies in order to actively learn and participate in school. Families who struggle with economic disparities are more likely to send their children to school hungry or select less healthy food choices when feeding their children. And, obesity continues to be a significant problem among the youngest children across America.
Over the past 5 years, the Health Education Council’s program, In the Grow, has partnered with SETA Head Start to set-up farm stands to provide increased access to fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables to Head Start families and nearby communities. Parent volunteers were provided training to operate the stands.
Thanks to the Health Education Council for providing support to SETA Head Start’s health and nutrition programs focusing on the prevention of childhood obesity.
Kaiser Permanente (Video)
As a comprehensive program, SETA Head Start has provided more than 134,000 preventative and primary health care screenings to enrolled children. And, it is through valuable partners, like Kaiser, that we ensure children have access to on-going and continuous health care.
Dr. Sean Cooke, Pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente, serves on the SETA Head Start Health Services Advisory Committee. Dr. Cooke has been instrumental in establishing the Head Start Lead policy to address the need for early Blood Lead Level assessments in children. Dr. Cooke provides primary medical exams for Head Start children in need of medical care as well as referrals for treatment resources.
Thank you Dr. Cooke for your support of the Head Start program for more than 8 years.
Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) Video
SETA Head Start is mandated to ensure that at least 10% of children with special needs are enrolled in the program. Since 1981, SETA Head Start has provided services to more than 18,310 children with disabilities or special needs.
Since 1990, SETA Head Start and the Sacramento County Office of Education, Special Education Department have been working together to ensure that children with disabilities are fully integrated into classrooms with typically developing children.
Through this longstanding collaboration, SETA and SCOE partnered in 2009 to provide Early Head Start expansion services to children ages 0-3 with identified special needs.
Additionally, when Race to the Top funds were available in California, SETA and SCOE have again partnered together to improve the quality of early childhood education in Sacramento County.
Head Start thanks SCOE for their assistance in training staff and providing specialists to provide individualized service and guidance for children with special needs.
For more information call (916) 263-3804
