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About Us
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The mission of the Iowa Head Start Association is to build the skills of its members to promote and advocate for a wide variety of quality services for all Iowa’s children and families.
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Head Start is our nation’s premier provider of developmental and educational services to pregnant moms, babies, toddlers, preschoolers and their families, who live in poverty and struggle to meet the basic needs of life.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbSp88PBe9E
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| Our Vision for the Future |
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Head Start will continue to play a key role in the transformation of education in America. We will bring our long record of success in working with the most challenging young children and their families to our partnerships with those in education and family services.
Together we will deliver on our nation’s promise that all of our young children have the opportunity to succeed.
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| The Needs We Face |
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Our nation faces enormous challenges. In 2008, over 4 million children under the age of ive are being raised in poverty. Our urban centers and rural communities are facing unparalleled challenges, and as inancial inequality increases and the number of children in poverty grows, more and more families are unable to overcome the risk factors that perpetuate multi-generational poverty.
In the midst of these financial and familial struggles, too often our schools are unable to meet the challenge of preparing children for success in a global economy. More and more children are arriving at school with severe emotional distress and already signiicantly behind many of their peers.
Head Start and Early Head Start programs are supported by federal-to-local funding. Historically, funding has limited enrollment to less than half of all eligible children nationwide.
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| Head Start is Our National Laboratory for Early Childhood Success |
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Nearly half a century ago, Head Start was created by the federal government as our nation’s laboratory to foster best practices for child development and related services for young children and their families. From the beginning, we have focused on the well being of the whole child through the provision of in-depth nutrition, health, education and family development services for children.
 Recognizing that these are clear foundations for learning, we will continue to reach and serve families with this comprehensive approach. Head Start performance standards define quality consistently across classrooms, programs, and states, and ensure that each child is served within the individualized context of that child’s needs. These standards represent the highest expectations for services to young children in
our nation, and we are prepared to continue to meet and exceed them.
With federal funding, Head Start will continue to take a leading role in developing best practice models for early education and family services and achieving measurable outcomes for young children and families. Within its broad menu of services and supports, Head Start provides quality instruction and education, including early literacy and mathematics, to prepare children for school and assist their successful transition to kindergarten.
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