The Head Start Difference

For people who believe that children deserve a chance, Head Start of Greater Dallas is the nonprofit that delivers results equal to the best preschool programs in Dallas.

How?

• Carefully developed curricula
• Well-trained teachers
• Small teacher to student ratio
• Exceptionally rich educational environment
• Strong research and evaluation program

All this to ensure that children who attend Head Start of Greater Dallas leave the program with the foundation of skills and knowledge they need to be successful in school and life.

All children undergo beginning, mid, and end-of-year assessments to measure their progress in all developmental domains. We use standardized child outcome measures recognized by the early childhood education field for delivering valid and reliable results.

Data from our research demonstrates that children from low-income, minimum family support environments can perform at levels comparable to children from higher socioeconomic levels given a high quality pre-school experience.

Currently there are two nationally recognized measures of quality demonstrate that children who attend HSGD will leave the program prepared for success in school: the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised and the National Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation.

Head Start of Greater Dallas is the one early childhood education organization that meets the total needs of each child.

Mission

HEAD START of Greater Dallas provides children with the foundation of skills and knowledge they need to be successful in school and life and fosters self-reliant families and communities.

Vision

A strong community of healthy, self-reliant families actively engaged in giving children hope, direction and skills to succeed in school and life.

History

Begun in 1965 as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” the Head Start program was sponsored by the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) in 1967 as a summer program. When DISD chose not to reapply for the grant, the Dallas County Community Action Committee, Inc. (DCCAC) became the new benefactor and administered the program for the next 20 years.

In 1988, the Head Start program separated form DCCAC and went under the interim sponsorship of Community Council of Greater Dallas for six months. The program then became incorporated as an independent nonprofit organization known as Dallas County Family Service, Inc.

In February of 1992, the Board of Directors decided to change the agency’s name to the Head Start of Greater Dallas. to better reflect the agency’s single purpose of providing Head Start services to the local community.