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Giving youngsters a head start
The Dysart Migrant Head Start Center, at 15815 N. Desert Sage Drive in
Surprise's Original Town Site, prepares the children of migrant
agricultural workers to enter the American education system. Agriculture
continues to be a mainstay of West Valley employment - particularly in
Surprise and El Mirage - despite thousands of freshly built rooftops and
acres of developing shopping complexes. Most hands laboring in nearby
rose fields and orange groves are seasonal field workers from Mexico.
The longstanding education Head Start program this month entered its
ninth year of helping those workers' children. The school receives
federal grants through the non-profit
Chicanos Por La Causa, a
community development group that runs service programs in heavily
Hispanic areas.
What it means to be at risk
The students are considered "at-risk," meaning they are at the federal
poverty line, have teenage mothers, or are coping with physical
handicaps. Many of the school's 70 pupils enter the center knowing no
English, and otherwise would likely have to go to work with their
parents, who cannot afford childcare. The children are screened for
learning disabilities and become fluent in English so that they can
enter traditional kindergarten without difficulty. Students range in age
from 18 months to 4 years old.
Tracking kids as they move
Because 50 percent of the students are classified as "migrant," meaning
their parents hop from field to field - typically within the state -
looking for work, the national program is used to track those students'
progress. Teachers set learning goals and write observations three to
five times a week for each pupil. That way, if a student moves
unexpectedly, their records can be transferred to a Head Start program
elsewhere and the child can stay on the same lesson plan. The students'
parents also set goals and meet with Head Start counselors once a month.
The counselors often help the parents earn their GEDs or develop savings
plans to purchase a home, among other things. |