For Staff

At ABCD Head Start and Early Head Start, we are able to offer the highest quality childcare and early education services because of the expertise and dedication of our staff. The nearly 600 individuals employed by Head Start and Early Head Start, and their partner programs, are passionate about giving low income children and their families the educational and behavioral advantages they need to succeed in school and life.

Many of our staff members are former and current parents of Head Start children, who first became involved with the program as volunteers. Parents often take advantage of the education, training, and mentoring opportunities we offer, in order to become the best teachers they can be for their own children, and to enhance their own professional development and achieve a higher quality of life for themselves and their family. Staff members who begin as volunteers have a long term involvement with Head Start, which gives them a full understanding of our guiding principles. These values include our dedication to caring for the whole child, and our belief in the importance of family and community involvement.

In order to meet the many varied needs of the children who attend Head Start and Early Head Start, our staff includes an array of experts in a broad range of disciplines. These caring specialists work together to provide a holistic approach to childcare and education.

Children receive education, support, and care from a team of early education experts and other skilled staff members. These experts include the administrators who keep the program’s financial and organizational components running smoothly, teachers and teacher assistants with specific expertise in early childhood education, social service staff who partner with parents and families to help children and their entire support network to be the best that they can be, and support staff who handle the day-to-day needs of our programs.

In addition to these core staff members, we have an array of social service experts who work with parents and families to meet students’ special needs and ensure that they are healthy and ready to learn and grow within the program and at home. These staff members include the following:

• Family case managers
  
  
• Disability specialists
  
  
• Nutritionists
  
  
• Health managers
  
  
• Mental health consultants
  
  
• Parent involvement specialists

All of these staff members meet with families throughout the year to review children’s activities and progress, provide support around any family concerns, and encourage program participation.
We could not operate without the hard work of the support staff at our local programs. They help us to provide essential services to our children. These dedicated members of the Head Start team include the following:

• Food service personnel
  
  
• Administrative staff
  
  
• Maintenance staff