Results of Recent Federal Head Start Review: No Areas of Non-Compliance

is a comprehensive child development program which serves children from birth to 5 years and their families. Head Start is a child-focused program, with the overall goal to increase social competence of young children in low-income families. “Social competence” defines child’s everyday effectiveness when dealing with both his and her present environment and later responsibilities in school and life. Social competence takes into account the interrelatedness of social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development.

Head Start services are also family-centered, following the tenets that children develop in the context of their family and culture and that parents are respected as the primary educators and nurturers of their children. Head Start offers family members with opportunities and support for growth and change, believing that people can identify their own strengths, needs, and interest and are capable of finding solutions.

Results of Recent Federal Head Start Review: No areas of non-compliance

Center-Based Educational Services

Offering services part year: (September-May) for a total of 128 school days to 108 children ages 3-5.

Offering full day/full year services for a total of 48 weeks to 18 children ages 3-5.

Offering full day/full year services for a total of 48 weeks to 16 infants and toddlers.

Location: Carol Brice Center, 1949 Gillam Way, Fairbanks-Alaska

· 3 morning classes serving a total of 54 children from 7:45-11:45, Mon-Thurs

· 3 afternoon classes serving a total of 54 children from 12:15-4:15, Mon-Thurs

· 1 full day class serving a total of 18 children age 3-5 from 7:15-5:15, Mon-Thurs

· 2 full day classes serving a total of 16 children birth to 3 from 7:15-5:15, Mon-Thurs

Educational services include individualized child development services, disability and special needs services, field trips and classroom activities which first meet the child’s emotional needs. As children learn to trust, their natural instinct to explore will enable further development in the areas of social, cognition, physical, language and self-care.

Thrivalaska Head Start Birth-Five- Helping Child and Families Thrive

Total Number of Families Served: 145

Total Number of Children Served: 174

Percentage of Income Eligible Children: 80 %

Parental Involvement Activities:

· Policy Council & Parent Committees: Program governance and family activity planning

· Parent Training:

First Aid/CPR
Filial Therapy
Kindergarten Transitions

· Family Fun Nights: Promotes family engagement as well as literacy development in young children with support from parents.

First Friday Art Show – featuring children’s artwork and art activities for the family
Child Health Fair – focusing on healthy living and prevention
Fall Festival – learning in the great outdoors & celebrated the program anniversary
End of Year Picnic – gross motor activities, nutritional activities, cultural awareness
Family Game Night – physical activities & stress relief

· Other Parent Involvement Opportunities:

Open house- Parent orientation, classroom visits, promotion of family involvement
Staff Appreciation planning and presentation
Nutritional Classes/ Cooking Matters for Parents

· Parent/Staff Committees:

School Readiness- Review system and goals for all children related to our school readiness framework
Health Services Advisory Committee- Promotion of health with health professionals

1st Home Visit / 2nd
Home
Visit / 3rd Home Visit / 4th
Home
Visit / Developed
Transition Plans / Documented Family Partnership Agreements/
Family Goals / Documented Parent’s Not Participating in FPA / Total Number of Parents Offered FPA Development
Family Advocate Visits / 137 / 125 / 119 / 9 / 116 / 128 / 12 / 137
Teacher Visits / 134 / 122

Parental Involvement Activities: Home visit and goal setting opportunities

Parent/
Teacher Conferences / Fall
103 / Spring
69
Average Monthly
Child Attendance / 85.7%
Health
Screenings / Enrolled Children 2016 / Percentage
Physical/ Well Child Checks (HS&EHS)
(within 90 Days of enrollment) / 162/181 / 90%
Dental (HS)
(within 90 Days of enrollment) / 123/156 / 79%
Nutrition/Diet (HS&EHS)
(within 45 Days of enrollment) / 181/181 / 100%
Nutrition Assessment/Height/Weight
(HS&EHS)
(within 45 Days of enrollment) / 181/181 / 100%
Vision (HS)
(within 45 Days of enrollment) / 156/156 / 100%
Hearing (HS)
(within 45 Days of enrollment) / 156/156 / 100%
Immunizations (HS&EHS)
(within 14 Days of enrollment) / 181/181 / 100%
TB Screening (HS)
By 4th Birthday / 105/181 / 58%
Lead Screening (HS&EHS) / 120/181 / 75%

Preparation for Kindergarten

School readiness activities include:

1. Initial parent home-visits before start of school outlining developmental goals and activities.

2. Developmental, Emotional & Social Screenings detailing strengths and challenges of individual children.

3. Individualize curriculum utilizing results of screening tools, parent input and teacher observations.

4. Continued and frequent updates on progress of individual child and classroom goals.

5. Periodic updates of child goals with parents through parent/teacher conferences and home visits that include guidance from early childhood experts.

6. Development of individual child portfolios; which tracks child development goals and outcomes.

7. Exceptional learning environments created to meet the developmental needs of children birth-5 years of age with emphasis on constructive practices and methods.

8. Transition plans that include emphasis on enrollment into Kindergarten and parent advocacy.

Assessment Data for Thrivalaska Head Start Preschoolers

This chart represents the percentage of children who meet/exceed developmental expectations for their age during the 2015/2016 school year. These results as well as the categories come from the Teaching Strategies GOLD assessment tool.

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework describes the skills, behaviors and knowledge that programs must foster in all children. The framework is organized into five domains: Approaches to Learning, Social and Emotional Development, Language and Literacy, Cognition, and Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development.

Our program’s School Readiness Goals align with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework.

Math needs: These are supported in the Cognition domain of the framework. We are using all dimensions of our assessment tool to track progress in this area.

Literacy needs: The Language and Literacy domain shows the goal for this area. While there are many components to literacy, we chose to focus on “print concepts” for the school readiness goal. This is an area that has typically been lower scoring as well as an area that the LEA has listed as part of their Kindergarten readiness.

Language: This area is one that typically scores higher at the beginning of the school year than others. Our chosen focus for school readiness involves vocabulary. It is a well known fact that children who come from lower income families generally have a lower vocabulary. By purposefully creating a goal to increase vocabulary, children will have multiple ways of expressing themselves as well as a greater chance of understanding material in kindergarten.

Cognitive: This area is covered both in the Approaches to Learning domain as well as the Cognition domain. Goals include gaining skills in the area of being able to maintain attention on tasks as well as being able to think symbolically.

Physical: This area has consistently been the area that children have the most skills in at the beginning of the school year, and is also one that is typically higher scoring at the end of the year as well. Even though the children demonstrate a high level of accomplishment with their motor skills we included a goal in this area in our School readiness Goals. We chose to focus on the gain of coordination of large muscles. This will help the children play cooperatively in groups in the kindergarten environment. These goals fall in the Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development domain.

Social/Emotional: This area is also one that children make significant gains while in the Head Start program. While it is not an area that lacks growth, it also has goals to ensure continued growth. We chose to focus on regulation of emotions and participating in groups for the school readiness goals. These goals were created in part to a brief informal poll of current Kindergarten teachers that named those areas as needed for kindergarten. These goals are found in the Social and Emotional domain as well as Approaches to Learning.

Explanation of Proposed Budget for the Fiscal Year-2016

HS+EHS / State / CCFP/SFP
Salaries and benefits / $1,171,008.00 / $397,057.00 / $52,503.00
Contractual / $24,565.00 / $37,630.00 / $0.00
Repairs and maintenance / $16,534.00 / $0.00
Rent & Utilities / $249,935.00 / $0.00
Travel & Training / $11,175.00 / $4,909.00 / $0.00
Supplies / $36,228.00 / $3,005.00
Other / $204,961.00 / $77,478.00
Insurance / $23,503.00 / $0.00
Depreciation / $0 / $0.00
In-Kind Expenses / $0.00 / $0.00
Total expense / $1,737,909.00 / $439,595.00 / $132,896.00
Federal / State / CCFP/SFP
Grant Revenue / $1,516,691.00 / $439,595.00 / $132,896.00
Child Care Co-pay / $9,366.00
Child Care Assistance / $201,274.00
Program Income / $0.00
In Kind Contributions / $0.00
Other Income / $10,578.00
Total Revenue / $1,737,909.00 / $439,595.00 / $132,896.00
Federal / State / CCFP/SFP
Personnel / $982,481.00 / $312,642.00 / $39,775.00
Fringe / $334,127.00 / $84,414.00 / $12,728.00
Travel / $11,175.00 / $4,909.00 / $0.00
Supplies / $36,228.00 / $3,005.00
Contractual / $24,565.00 / $37,630.00 / $0.00
Other / $349,333.00 / $77,478.00
Total Expense / $1,737,909.00 / $439,595.00 / $132,896.00

Explanation of Proposed Budget for the Fiscal Year-2015

HS+EHS / State / CCFP/SFP
Salaries and benefits / $1,171,008.00 / $398,336.00 / $49,447.00
Contractual / $25,397.00 / $0.00
Repairs and maintenance / $3,600.00 / $0.00
Rent & Utilities / $262,833.00 / $0.00
Travel & Training / $25,922.00 / $4,909.00 / $0.00
Supplies / $36,423.00 / $2,018.00
Other / $61,975.00 / $36,350.00 / $65,786.00
Insurance / $21,043.00 / $0.00
Depreciation / $5,212.00 / $0.00
In-Kind Expenses / $0.00 / $0.00
Total expense / $1,441,115.00 / $439,595.00 / $117,251.00
Federal / State / CCFP/SFP
Grant Revenue / $1,497,227.00 / $439,595.00 / $117,251.00
Child Care Co-pay / $9,366.00
Child Care Assistance / $106,633.00
Program Income / $0.00
In Kind Contributions / $0.00
Other Income / $0.00
Total Revenue / $1,441,115.00 / $439,595.00 / $117,251.00
Federal / State / CCFP/SFP
Personnel / $907,834.00 / $316,140.00 / $39,244.00
Fringe / $263,174.00 / $82,196.00 / $10,203.00
Travel / $25,922.00 / $4,909.00 / $0.00
Supplies / $36,423.00 / $2,018.00
Contractual / $25,397.00 / $36,350.00 / $0.00
Other / $354,663.00 / $65,786.00
Total Expense / $1,441,115.00 / $439,595.00 / $104,400.00

Special Contributions:

Executive Director: Alicia Berka

Program Director: Gina Pruce

Board of Directors: Jim Sweeney, Art Delaune, Steve Bouta, April Johnson, Earl Peterson, AnneMarie Mattacchione, Regina Finstad, Samantha Burke

Policy Council: Krista Stewart, Angel Harrison, Kadie Burke, Erika Migiaccio, Anna Garlow, Brittany Moore, Valencia Bailey, Michelle McCarty, Tamara Toy, Crystal Ruerup, Mary Johnson, Joel Clover

Thrivalaska Administrators: Lisa McDaniel, Teodor Dornea, Shelly Mensch, Nichole Jimmie

Thrivalaska Head Start Coordinators: Tamara De Los Santos, Bonnie Rogers, Vanessa Reese, Micheal Luke

Community Partners: Alaska Health Fairs, Cooperative Extension Services (EFNEP), Fairbanks Community Behavioral Health, Fairbanks Counseling and Adoption, Fairbanks Regional Public Health Center, Fairbanks Safe Rider/Safe Kids Program, Interior Community Health Center, North Pole Lion’s Club, Tanana Chiefs Conference, Women Infants and Children (WIC), Fairbanks Resource Agency (FRA), FNSB School District, Project Teach Infant Learning Program (ACCA), Special Education Service Agency (SESA), Adult Learning Programs of Alaska (ALPA), Army Community Services, Division of Public Assistance, Fairbanks Food Bank, Fairbanks Homeless Coalition, Fairbanks Native Association (FNA) Head Start & Early Head Start, Fairbanks Rescue Mission, Habitat for Humanity, Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living, Literacy Council of Alaska/Even Start, Office of Children’s Services, Parents as Teachers State Group, Resource Center for Parents and Children (RCPC), Salvation Army, Santa’s Clearing House, Teen Options, Far North Christian School, FNSB School District Homeless Liaison, Best Beginnings, Noel Wien Library, thread, Early Childhood Commission, Early Childhood Education University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Northern Interior Association for the Education of Young children (NiAEYC), Alaska Head Start Association, AmeriCorps, Fairbanks/North Pole Fire Department, North Pole First Baptist Church, Imagination Library, Joel’s Place, Alaska Autism Resource Center, Theresa Salzman, Ann Burtness

Thrivalaska Head Start Birth-Five- Helping Child and Families Thrive