What is Head Start?

ABCD Head Start and Children's Services is a free, award-winning early childcare and education program. It is one of the oldest and most respected of such programs in the nation. Our mission is to provide opportunities and services to the diverse, low-income children and families of Boston by helping them to achieve school readiness, self-sufficiency and success in life. We provide children with education that improves their ability to think, reason, communicate and develop self-esteem through meaningful social interaction with peers and teachers.

The decentralized ABCD program serves close to 2400 pre-kindergarten children. More than 2,200 children aged three-to-five receive services at 22 neighborhood based programs throughout Boston, and more than 186 infants, toddlers, young parents, and pregnant women are enrolled in 4 Early Head Start programs located in Dorchester, East Boston, and the South End. Thanks to multiple funding sources, approximately 700 of the 2400 children in ABCD Head Start currently receive full-day, full-year services, designed to meet the needs of working and in-school parents.

Helping the Whole Child

Our caring staff of qualified professionals provides a wide range of integrated offerings aimed at addressing the whole child, including:

• Education
• Dental care
• Health services
• Mental health services
• Nutritional services
• Social services
• Special needs for those with disabilities.

These services are part of a comprehensive, holistic, family intervention program for low-income, pre-school children and their families. Services include, but are not limited to:

• Healthy breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack to ensure good nutrition
• Vision and Hearing Screenings
• Dental check-ups and treatment
• Speech and language therapy
• Special needs services.

A Holistic Approach to Child Development

Head Start's approach to child development and education is comprehensive, including the child, family, and community. In addition to designing programs that are specialized to meet each child and family's unique developmental, ethnic, cultural and linguistic needs and background, we also give parents the tools to bring these programs into their homes. We foster parents to become their children's primary educators, nurturers and advocates. We also help parents to identify and meet their own goals, in order to enhance the quality of life for their entire family. Head Start also understands that families exist within the larger context of their communities, and we have established many community partnerships that provide our children and families with the comprehensive services they need to succeed.