What we do
Mid-America Head Start focuses on four broad objectives:
- Effectively administer Head Start and Early Head Start funds and ensure the highest level of accountability in the delivery of services.
- Promote school readiness through comprehensive education, mental health, disabilities, health, and nutrition services to young children.
- Engage families in support of their children’s ongoing learning and development, promote strong relationships between parents and their children, and improve family well-being.
- Collaborate with community partners to enhance and expand these core services.
Services
Family and Community Engagement
Parent engagement is an integral part of program development. Parents provide insight to the diverse needs of families and offer their own expertise, knowledge and experience.
Child and Family Wellness
MARC Head Start programs use a coordinated service approach to ensure that the medical, dental, nutritional and mental health needs of children and families are met.
Early Education
MARC Head Start has identified goals for children’s learning and development. Educators provide engaging experiences and interactions, and observe children to assess their progress toward the goals.
Professional Development and Growth
Frequent high-quality learning opportunities for Head Start staff and families are available. Continuous professional and personal growth is a cornerstone of our program.
Program Options
The 17 direct service providers in the MARC Head Start network offer center-based and/or home-based services to support families and prepare children to enter school healthy and ready to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.
Center Based
Our network of service providers offers Head Start and Early Head Start services at 33 centers across Clay, Jackson and Platte counties.
Home-Based
Our service providers work with families in their homes weekly and provide group socialization opportunities to support parents as their child’s first teacher.
Professional Development and Personal Growth
We ensure that all staff employed by MARC and our network of providers are highly qualified and have knowledge and experience in providing early learning experiences and family support. Parent leaders also have opportunities to gain skills that enhance their leadership and advocacy skills.
Early Education Staff
We ensure that all staff employed by MARC and our network of providers are highly qualified and have knowledge and experience in providing early learning experiences.
Family & Parent Advocates
Family advocate staff have an opportunity for continuous growth through credential and training opportunities that build and enhance their skills to best support families.
Program Leaders
Continuous professional development opportunities support program leadership to navigate staff supervision and implementing innovative practices.
Parent Leaders
We believe that families play a critical role in our program. Opportunities to enhance parenting, leadership and advocacy skills benefit both families and our program.