GULF COAST COMMUNITY SERVICES ASSOCIATION
Head Start/Early Head Start Support Services Monthly Narrative February 2025
LEADERSHIPACTIVITIES
• Child andAdult Care Food Program (CACFP) The January 2025 Child andAdult Care Food Program (CACFP) claim wascompletedandsubmittedtotheTexasDepartment ofAgriculture(TDA)forreimbursement. InJanuary there were 16foodservice days for the month.There were 17eligible sites and 1,518eligible children.The number of meals provided: 5,694 breakfasts; 5,775 lunches and 17,488 PM snacks served.
Expected reimbursement for the month is $61,922.61.
GCCSA February 2025 Story Time –Al Maldonado, Compliance &Accountability Director read “The ABCs of Law” by Raamin Mostaghimi and Varun Bhartia tothe children and staff in February. The story follows Lawyer Lion, Lawyer Lioness, Plaintiff Parrot, Defendant Duck, and the rest of the gang as they learn the ins and outs of legal practice in the courtroom.
• Congratulations to Ms. Julia Phillips who completed all requirements to receive her CDACredential February 21!
• Children’s Assessment Progress meetings were held with each Center Administrator, Child Develop Manager and Specialist and the Assistant Director of HS/EHS. Each CenterAdministrator presented the children’s scores and progress for their center. Center Administrators also meet with each of their teachers to discuss children’s progress in every classroom.
• Specialists’ Outcomes Meetings were held this month. Specialists meet to discuss progress, concerns and solutions to
• University of Houston Bounce Program -
• TANS–TheDepartment ofAgricultureismovingtoanewelectronicsystemcalledTexasAutomatedNutritionSystem (TANS). The Head Start/Early Head Start Assistant Director attended the January TANS Talk series meeting.
• GCCSA/SHINE ECE Monthly Meeting – The Assistant Director, Child Development Manager held their monthly meeting with Sonali Raval, Shine Director of Education & Family and Community engagement.
• The Assistant Director is a member of the Baylor College of Medicine’s Chef-ED Advisory Board and attended the board meeting this month. The project Chef-Ed is conducting a study on good eating habits with parents and their young children. GCCSAHead Start centers are participating.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(CD)
• Early Head Start Themes taught this month were: Toddler/ Theme 6 Shapes and Sizes - Week 1- Circles-Children will learn about shapes over the next few weeks to build early skills. Week 2 –Squares- This week children will learn about squares. The focus is on recognition. Week 3- Triangles- This week children will learn to recognize them easily because they have a distinct appearance. Week 4- Hearts and Stars- This week children will learn about hearts and stars. These shapes are generally some of the first that children recognize because they see these shapes in holiday decorations. Three/ Theme 6 Creative Me - Week 2Recycled Treasures- This week, children will learn how to turn everyday items (often discarded) into treasures. Week 3– Experimenting- This week, children will learn about experimenting to find the right solution to creative thinking and problem solving. Week 4- Designing and Building- This week children will explore their creative side by designing (thinking about what they want to create and build. Theme 7- ON the GO- Week 1- Places Kids Go- This week, children will learn about the ways their bodies can move.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT (CD)
(continued)
• HS Stand-Alone Centers uses the Frog Street Curriculum: This month children studied Pre-K Theme 6, “I Build, I Create” Week 1: Construction terms, Week 2: Tools and Machines Week 3: I can Build Week 4: I can Create.
• HISD Collaboration uses the Three Cheers Curriculum Theme 6: “From Farm to Table” Week 1- “How Food Goes From Farm to Store Shelves” Week 2 – “Baby Goes to Market” Week 3 “We Eat Food That’s Fresh” Week 4: “The Empanadas that Abuela Made”
• Raul Yzaguirre HS Teaching Strategies February Theme presented to the children was “Simple Machines.” Week 1: “How do inclined planes help us move things?” Week 2: “How are levers used?” Week 3: “How do screws hold things together?” Week 4: “What are other types of simple machines and how do you use them? Who works with simple machines?”
• The Thompson Head Start teachers presented their children’s assessment scores focused on the CLI Database with the collaboration HISD teacher. Teachers demonstrated growth and follow-up for those children needing additional support. Ms. Carrero, Child Development Manager, expressed her heartfelt congratulations to Ms. Liddell and the teachers for their exceptional collaboration and dedication.
• The Child Development team has supported teaching staff at all campuses to complete CLI Engage MOY assessment.
• The Child Development team is preparing for the three upcoming events: Week of the Young Child, Teacher Appreciation Week and Spring Advisory Committee Meeting. Calendars, activities, and purchase options have been discussed and submitted for approval.
• Child Development is supporting teachers in individual and Group Coaching Action Plans for those that the CLASS Score need improvement.
HEALTH & NUTRITION
(H/N):
• Head Start program requires within 30 calendar days after the child first attends the program, the parent must be consulted to determine whether each child has ongoing sources of continuous, accessible health care and health insurance coverage. Currently Head Start enrollment is at 1293 and EHS is at full enrollment of 80.
• Within 45 calendar days after the child first attends the program a program must either obtain or perform evidencebased vision and hearing screenings. Within 90 days HS must obtain determinations from health care and oral health care professionals to establishif the child is upto date ona schedule of age-appropriate preventive and primary medical and oral health care. This is based on the wellchild visits and dental periodicity schedules as prescribed by the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program. EPSDT is a part of the Medicaid agency Texas Health Steps is our state’s EPSDT program. Immunization recommendations are issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and additional recommendations from the local health
EARLY HEAD START
Pasadena HS team celebrating Black History with the Support ServicesAssociate
agencies and the GCCSA Health Services Advisory Committee based on prevalent community health problems.
• Nutrition Team continue to host monthly meetings with The Healthy Lunch Box Provider. This gives the Center Administrators an opportunity to provide feedback on the quality of the meals served to our stand-alone centers.
• Health Specialist monitor and complete vision and hearing screenings needed for new and returning students
• Donuts with Dad event was held at Early Head Start on Wednesday, February 26. It was a complete success. Thirty (30) father figures attended whichis38% ofenrolledfamilies!EHS didanoutstandingjobof recruiting families and the turnout was amazing. You can see photos and video from the event by clicking the link: EHS Spring 2025
SPECIALSERVICES (SS):
• Head Start and Early Head Start requires that 10% of the Funded Enrollment includes children with disabilities. Head Start only recognizes children with a disability that are eligible for services under Individuals With
• Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).At the end of February 2025, it was determined
• 73 Head Start children and 6 Early Head Start children are enrolled in the program that are identified with disabilities Sixty-three (63) children are identified with a speech impairment, 8 withAutism, 6 with NonCategorical Early Childhood and 1 with Orthopedic Impairment.
• IDEAis a law that makes available free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children who are identified with a disability. The Local EducationAgency (LEA) holds the authority to identify children with disabilities. Please see the “Identified Children Per Campus” chart showing the number of children with disabilities indicated above.
• As of the end of February 2025, the Special Services Department has 161 suspected children enrolled in our Head Start program and 6 suspected children enrolled in our Early Head Start program. 105 children have suspected speech concerns, 17 children have suspected Autism, 6 children have suspected social emotional concerns, and 37 children with both disability and social emotional concerns. Please see the “Suspected Children Per Campus” chart showing the number of children with suspected disabilities on previous page. Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings: The department assists with monitoring Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meetings. MDT meetings are held to ensure that children who are enrolled or who have applied are given the opportunity to
maximize the benefits of the program. For the month of February 2025, the Special Services Department obtained and attended 1 new MDT meeting reports from the agency’s content areas for a total of 28 meetings year to date.
GCCSADisabilities and Mental Health Providers Services - (Advance Plus, Carr Speech, Personal Touch, Eaden Counseling, Providential Counseling,ANC-D Psychological Services and Marshall Counseling Services)ANC-D Psychological Services conducted a parent training at Garden Villas Elementary titled: “Issues of Mental Health in Early Childhood”. Personal Touch Therapy conducted parent trainings at Patterson Elementary and Raul Yzaguirre Schools for Success titled: “Developmental Milestones and Red Flags”.
DEPARTMENTACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Site Observation February 2025 Report: The Site Observation Summary Chart indicates the center visits made by the Child Development and Special Services Managers, Health & Nutrition and Support ServicesAssociate, Child Development, Family Empowerment, Health, Nutrition and Special Services Specialists for the month of February 2025.All GCCSASite visits are required to provide support and meet the needs of children and staff at GCCSAHead Start and Early Head Start Centers.
New Hire Orientation: New Hire Orientation was held the week of February 03 – 07, 2025. There were four (4) new hires that came on board. Please welcome Zurisdai Ramirez, Teacher Assistant; Leonora Ramirez, Teacher Aide; Diana Cruz, Teacher Assistant and Mirna Lanzas, Teacher Assistant who is a rehire. We welcome all our new staff.
CPR/First Aid:
We had a total of (2) two staff members attend CPR/First Aid in February 2025, they consisted of (1) one Teacher II and (1) one Teacher III
HS/EHS Professional Development:
• The NutrtionTeam and Support ServicesAssociate hosted a CACFPpoint of service training for the PasadenaHead Start teachers.
• The Support ServicesAssociate provided a one-on-one CACFP Monthly Report training for one of new Center Administrators.
• AProfessional Learning Community was held for all CenterAdministrators on the topic of the Teacher Success Rubric (TSR).
UPCOMINGACTIVITIES/EVENTS/TRAINING HOSTED BY DEPARTMENT:
March 3
March 3 – 7
March 4
March 6
March 24 – 28
March 10 – 14
March 19
March 25
NEO On Boarding – November New Hires
Dr. Seuss ReadAmerica Week
NEO On Boarding - February New Hires
Self-Assessment – Federal Review Prep Check In
New Hire Orientation
HISD/PISD Spring Break
GCCSAStoryTime
CS & EHSAssistant Directors’Standing Meeting
UPCOMING CONFERENCES TRAININGS HOSTED OUTSIDE OF GCCSA:
March 7 Meeting: re: HS/EHS FA1 Preparation
April 7 – 11 FocusArea 1 (FA1) Monitoring Review
REQUIRED TRAININGS:
• CDA Training
• Civil Rights Training (annual)
• CLASS and Teacher Success Rubric
• Training for new and returning staff.
• Child Abuse and Neglect Training annually
• CPR & First Aid Training
• Coaching and Mentoring Strategies CD Specialists & Teachers
• ERSEA Training - required annually.
• Food Handlers Certification
• Medication Administration Training
• Orientation for New Employees, Parents & Providers
• Developmentally Appropriate Practices, Health and Safety, Teaching and Learning Environment, Curriculum & Assessment
• Pedestrian Safety at First Parent Upcoming
• Technology in the Classroom Training
• HS/EHS Policies and Procedures Training: Practice-Based Coaching, Effective Classroom Management.
• CACFP Required Training & Bi- Weekly CACFP & Cook Training Conscience Discipline Training (overview)
• Disability & Mental Health Training & Social Emotional Development for Children
• SIDS/ Shaken Baby training.
Bastian teaching teams present their students’assessment data.