What is Head Start?
ABCD Head Start and Children's Services is a free, award-winning early childcare and education program.
Our mission is to provide service and opportunities to the diverse, low-income children and families of Boston by helping them to achieve school readiness, self-sufficiency and success in life.
The ABCD Head Start program serves over:
- 2400 pre-kindergarten children
- 2,200 children aged three-to-five receive services at 22 neighborhood based programs throughout Boston
- Thanks to multiple funding sources, approximately 700 of the 2400 children in ABCD Head Start currently receive full-day, full-year services, designed to meet the needs of working and in-school parents
Helping the Whole Child
Our caring staff of qualified professionals provides a wide range of integrated offerings to families and young children, including infants, toddlers and children ages three to five.
These services are part of a comprehensive, holistic, family intervention program for low-income, pre-school children and their families. Services include, but are not limited to:
- Healthy breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack to ensure good nutrition
- Vision and Hearing Screenings
- Dental Check-ups and Treatment
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Special Needs Services
A Holistic Approach to Child Development
Head Start's approach to child development and education is comprehensive, including the child, family, and community. Our programs are designed to meet the needs of a child and family's unique developmental, ethnic, cultural and linguistic needs and background.
We give parents the necessary tools to become their children's primary educators and advocates. We also help parents identify and meet their own goals to enhance the quality of life for their entire family.
Head Start understands families exist within the larger context of their communities, and we have established many community partnerships that provide our children and families with the comprehensive services they need to succeed.
