What We Do
The Olathe Head Start program is a federally funded center-based program that provides services to children and families 3-5 years of age who are from low-income families. The Olathe School District is the grantee for Olathe Head Start and serves Olathe, Blue Valley, Spring Hill, De Soto, and Gardner/Edgerton School Districts.
Our objective is to:
- Provide children and their families with comprehensive services that will allow them to succeed in school and in life;
- Work with 3-5 year old children in an effort to equip them with school readiness skills; and
- Assist all families by helping them to set achievable goals in areas of most concern to them.
Funding
The primary source of funding is a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services and The Office of Head Start. An additional resource is the Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); a reimbursement program that pays for portions of the nutrition program provided by Olathe Head Start. Non-Federal match is required for grant funds and are the local share of the Head Start funding.
Department of Health & Human Services Grant
Budget/Project Period: 8-1-2015 through 7-31-2016
Federal Budget$1,005,830 (80%)
Non-Federal Share$251,458 (20%)
Total Budget$1,257,288
Proposed Budget
Salaries$734,811
Fringe Benefits$190,848
Supplies$36,756
Contractual$5,583
Other$33,605
Travel$4227
Non-Federal Match $251,458
Total$1,257,288
The Annual Audit can be found at
High Quality Classrooms & Early Learning Framework
The program utilizes the Creative Curriculum, a play based curriculum that is fully aligned with the Teaching Strategies GOLD Assessment system. GOLD is also aligned with the Kansas Early Learning Standards and the Head Start Early Childhood Development and Early Learning Framework.
The philosophy behind the Creative Curriculum is that young children learn best by doing. Learning isn't just repeating what someone else says; it requires active thinking and experimenting to find out how things work and to learn firsthand about the world we live in. In their early years, children explore the world around them by using all their senses (touching, tasting, listening, smelling, and looking).
Play provides the foundation for academic or "school" learning.
- Play enables us to achieve the key goals of our early childhood curriculum. Play is the work of young children.
- The most important goal of our early childhood curriculum is to help children become enthusiastic learners. This means encouraging children to be active and creative explorers who are not afraid to try out their ideas and to think their own thoughts.
- Our goal is to help children become independent, self-confident, inquisitive learners.
- Our curriculum identifies goals in all areas of development:
- Social: To help children feel comfortable in school, trust their new environment, make friends, and feel they are a part of the group.
- Emotional: To help children experience pride and self- confidence, develop independence and self-control, and have a positive attitude toward life.
- Cognitive: To help children become confident learners by letting them try out their own ideas and experience success, and by helping them acquire learning skills such as the ability to solve problems, ask questions, and use words to describe their ideas, observations, and feelings.
- Physical: To help children increase their large and small muscle skills and feel confident about what their bodies can do.
Ready For Kindergarten
Child Assessment Data 2015-2016
Policy Council
Policy Council meetings are scheduled on a monthly basis, to empower parents to make decisions about program policies that may enhance services to children and families. In order to assist parents in participating in the Policy Council, Olathe Head Start provides childcare and dinner. Olathe School District Board representatives are actively involved with the Policy Council, to assure that the program staff, parents and governing body fulfill their responsibilities.
Governing Body
The Olathe Public Schools Head Start Program has established and maintains a formal structure of shared governance through which parents can participate in policy making or in other decisions about the program.
This structure consists of the following groups, as required:
- Governing Body- The Olathe School Board
- Policy Council- made up of parents and community representatives
- Parent Committee- Established at each school where Head Start services are offered
Since its inception in 1965, Head Start has recognized the value of including parents as FULL PARTNERS in making decisions that concern them, their children, and the program. Shared governance of the program may, in fact, be one of Head Start’s most unique contributions. The practice of shared decision-making in Olathe School District’s Head Start program promotes shared responsibilities. It gives a voice to all concerned with the health, education and well-being of the children served. Shared decision making allows everyone opinions to be heard and considered.
Head Start’s parent and family engagement builds relationships that support family well-being, support bonds between parents and their children, and promote learning for parents, children and families. Olathe Head Start engages parents with a rich variety of educational opportunities and cultural/social activities. One of Olathe Head Start’s goals is to help parents positively impact their child’s school readiness. The program collaborates with multiple community partners to provide education that fosters stronger families and a healthy community. Programs include parenting, child development, nutrition, health, mental health, budgeting, community advocacy, meeting the needs of children with developmental disabilities and literacy.
Emergency assistance via referrals to local resources
Special education services for children with disabilities
Well-supervised staff with degrees or CDA credentials
Free breakfast and lunch that meets Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) requirements
Mental Health services with on-site observations
Hearing, vision, speech, developmental growth assessments, and health history screenings
Transition services into and out of Head Start
Parent involvement services including parenting skills, health & development, how to further their education, mental health, etc.
150 of the most vulnerable children in our area.
The best preschool academic program available.
Family goal planning and other family services
Emergency assistance via referrals to local resources
Special education services for children with disabilities
Well-supervised staff with degrees or CDA credentials
Free breakfast and lunch that meets Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) speech, developmental growth assessments, and health history screenings
Transition services into and out of services including mental health, etc.
Head Start staff connects parents with social service assistance, job training and employment assistance,medical and dental services, vision and hearing screening, nutrition assistance and counseling, and supports children with special needs.
Family goal planning and other family services
Emergency assistance via referrals to local resources
staff with degrees or CDA credentials
Free breakfast and lunch that meets Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) requirements
Mental Health services with on-site observations
Hearing, vision, speech, developmental growth assessments, and health history screenings
Transition services into and out of Head Start
Parent involvement services including parenting skills, health & development, how to further their education, mental health, etc.
Community Partnerships:
•Olathe District Schools Special Education Services
•Johnson County Community College
•Johnson County Mental Health
•Life Church
•Farmers Insurance
•Brown Mackie Nursing School
•Students from local High Schools (Olathe, Blue Valley, Gardner)
•Mid America Nazarene Interns
•Head Start Parents/Grandparents
•Community Residents
•Bank of Blue Valley
•Panera
•WIC
•Watch DOG Dads
•Olathe Police Dept.
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