2008-2009 Program Calendar Meeting Dates for 2007-2008 How To Enroll Your Child In Head Start RCS Head Start Centers How Head Start Can Help Your Family Benefits of Participating in the Head Start Program Wrap Around Services Components of RCS Head Start The Director's Corner Further Links	Welcome to the RCS Head Start web pages! These web pages contain information that we felt would be important to you. Feel free to bookmark our site! After browsing this site, we invite you to contact staff using the convenient links. Always remember, the PARENT/GUARDIAN is the first and the most influential teacher in a child’s life. Our mission statement is: RCS HEAD START IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING QUALITY, COMPREHENSIVE PRESCHOOL SERVICES TO ELIGIBLE CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES, WHICH WILL PROMOTE SELF-SUFFICIENCY, SELF WORTH, AND PRODUCTIVITY IN THE COMMUNITY. We look forward to working with you at RCS Head Start! Warmest regards, Patti Horan, Head Start Director ABOUT the Head Start Program: Head Start is a comprehensive program that serves children ages three to five and their families. It is a child-focused program with the overall goal of increasing the school readiness of young children in low-income families. The Head Start program is administered by the Head Start Bureau, the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Grants are awarded by the ACF Regional Offices and the Head Start Bureau's American Indian and Migrant Program Branches directly to local public agencies, private organizations, Indian Tribes and school systems for the purpose of operating Head Start programs at the community level. The Head Start program has a long tradition of delivering comprehensive and high-quality services designed to foster healthy development in low-income children. Head Start grantee and delegate agencies provide a range of individualized services in the areas of education and early childhood development: medical, dental, and mental health; nutrition; and parent involvement. In addition, the entire range of Head Start services is responsive and appropriate to each child's and family's developmental, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage and experience. All Head Start programs must adhere to Program Performance Standards. The Head Start Program Performance Standards define the services that Head Start programs are to provide to the children and families they serve. They constitute the expectations and requirements that Head Start grantees must meet. They are designed to ensure that the Head Start goals and objectives are implemented successfully, that the Head Start philosophy continues to thrive, and that all grantee and delegate agencies maintain the highest possible quality in the provision of Head Start services.