School News

Last Updated on Monday, 05 March 2018 15:44

Applications are now being accepted for the 2018-2019 program year for Head Start/Early Head Start of Fayette County, a program of the Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette, Inc. (PIC).

Staff will be recruiting throughout Fayette County beginning inMarch. Feel free to call and schedule a time to come meet our instructors, tour the classrooms, ask questions, and fill out an application.

Head Start/Early Head Start of Fayette County provides comprehensive early childhood education services to low-income families with children birth to age five and pregnant women, including complete services to children with disabilities and other special needs.

Early Head Start provides home-based services to pregnant women and children up to three years of age and their families at no cost to the parent. Instructors visit families in their homes for 90 minutes per week to work on children’s learning goals with the parent. Instructors also help parents find ways to meet family needs through community resources and services.

The Early Head Start Child Care Partnership program provides center-based services that support high-quality care tolow-income families with infants and toddlers enrolled in participating child care centers at no additional cost to the parent. Families are also offered monthly visits in order to provideaccompanying comprehensive services to the families such as social service, nutrition and mental health referrals.

The Head Start program, which is also at no cost to the parent, prepares preschoolers, aged three to five years, to make the transition into kindergarten. Head Start services are offered through classroom- and home-based options. The home-based model is the same as noted above for the Early Head Start program. Classroom services are offered at various locations throughout the county, 5 days per week, 6 hours per day.

In all options, children learn how to get along with other children while exploring and learning through play.The children develop a variety of school readiness skills including fine motor, gross motor, math, language and literacy.

Through the Child and Adult Care Food Program, children are served healthy and nutritious meals and snacks while attending Head Start classroom and home-based socials. Parents are encouraged to participate in program planning and decision-making.Volunteer opportunities in the classroom allow parents to learn more about how to be involved in their child’s learning and development.

Research has consistently shown that children who enter school with a strong educational background succeed academically and later in life. If you are interested in signing your child up for Head Start or Early Head Start, please call our office at 724-430-4818 or visit us at www.privateindustrycouncil.com.