March 2024 Support Services Monthly Report

GULF COAST COMMUNITY SERVICES ASSOCIATION

Head Start/Early Head Start Support Services

March 2024 Monthly Narrative Report

LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES

• Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) The February 2024 Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) claim was completed and submitted to the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) for reimbursement. In February there were 21 food service days for the month. There were 16 eligible sites and 1,518 eligible children. The number of meals provided: 7,761 breakfasts; 7,899 lunches and 22,920 PM snacks served. Expected reimbursement for the month is $80,412.44.

• GCCSA Community Services Director read to the children and staff for the March GCCSA Storytime! Dr. Cimberli Darrough (Dr. D) read to the children and staff “We’re Better Together” a Book about Community The book was written Eileen Spinelli and Ekaterina Trukhan Translation was provided. Storytime broadcast live to all sites via ZOOM on their Promethean Boards every third Wednesday of the month

• Interviews were held this month for the Child Development Manager’s position and for the Health Specialist’s position. Selections will be made in April.

• The Head Start/Early Head Start Assistant Director attended the Houston Community College’s Child Development Advisory Board meeting which she serves as a member. She shared at this meeting the agency is currently recruiting children for both the Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

• Ms. Celia Bocanega at Raul prepares her young scholars for the solar eclipse. Click on the link and join the children’s excitement! Raul Ms. B's Class Getting Ready for the Eclipse.mp4

CHILD DEVELOPMENT (CD)

• Early Head Start: Threes: Theme 7“On the Go” - Week 1- Places Kids Go- Kids are on the move from sunrise to sunset. They walk, run, dance, and jump. With a bit of practice, they will gallop. hop, and skip. This week the children will learn about the ways their bodies can move. Week 2- “Wheels” - This week the children will continue learning about ways they move but will turn their attention toward things with wheels. We will discuss all the ways wheels help us move and do work. Week 3- Wings- This week

• the children will explore traveling with wings. We will talk about airplanes, helicopters, and flying animals. We will also try to imagine the view from up high. Week 4- This week the children will explore traveling on water. We will talk about sea life.

• Toddlers: Theme- 6 “Shapes and Sizes” - Week 2- Squares- This week the children will learn about squares. The focus is on recognition. Even though the teachers and children will count the sides and corners, the children are not expected to know this information. It is simply exposure. Week 3- Triangles- This week the children will learn about triangles. Children often learn to recognize them easily because they have a distinct appearance. Week 4Hearts and Stars- This week the 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.

CHILD DEVELOPMENT (continued)

• Toddlers: Continue- Theme-7 “Nursery Rhymes” - Eggs and Cats- The children will begin their study of nursery rhymes focusing on two favorites, “Humpy Dumpty” and “Hey Diddle, Diddle” Tuffets and Haystacks- The children will continue their study of nursery rhymes focusing on “Little Miss Muffet”, “Little Boy Blue,” and “Three Little Kittens.”

Infants: Teachers implemented the Activity Trackers Card to plan activities according to each child’s individual need in both Infant classrooms.

• Raul Yzaguirre The March Theme at Raul was “Gardening” Investigation 1: How can we plan and care for our garden? Investigation 2: What grows in gardens? Investigation 3: Who helps garden grow? Investigation 4: How do gardens help people and the environment? Investigation 5: How can we harvest our garden?

• Collaboration Campuses: HISD collaboration sites utilize several curriculums. The primary curriculum is Savvas, Three Cheers for Pre-K. Curriculum Theme 7: “On the GO”. Children discovered and explored how they get from here to there. Week 1- “Let’s Go” Week 2 –“Freight Train” Week 3 “The Ugly Truckling” Week 4: “Ready. Steady. Race!”

• Stand-Alone Curriculum: Head Start Stand-Alone sites implement the Frogstreet Pre-K curriculum. March theme was: Theme 7- “Things that Move / Cosas que se mueven”. Sub themes students studied: Week 1: I Move/ Yo me muevo, Week 2: Spring Break, Week 3: Travel/ Viajar, Week 4: Transportation/Transporte.

• Plans have been finalized for the Week of the Young Child (April 612) and Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5 – 11). The Child Development team in collaboration with the Center Administrators and Operation Support have planned some exciting events for both weeks! Please be on the lookout!

• The Child Development team continues to work with our SHINE partner, Sonali Ravali in the roll out plans for the Teacher Success Rubric. A tool that will guide and enable them to monitor themselves in being a successful educator.

• Child Development provided guidance, support, and encouragement to educators pursuing advancing their careers and contributing to their profession. (Child Development Associate Credential (CDA), walkthroughs, mentoring, and coaching.)

• Child Development Specialists provided teaching teams with individual activities and support

• 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 1296 and EHS is at full enrollment of 80

HEALTH & NUTRITION: (continued)

Within 45 calendar days after the child first attends the program a program must either obtain or perform evidence-based vision and hearing screenings.

Within 90 days HS must obtain determinations from health care and oral health care professionals as to whether or not the child is up-to-date on a schedule of age appropriate preventive and primary medical and oral health care, based

on: the well-child visits and dental periodicity schedules as prescribed by the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program of the Medicaid agency of the state in which they operate, immunization recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and any additional recommendations from the local Health Services Advisory Committee that are based on prevalent community health problems.

• The nutrition team and Center Administrators continue to hold monthly check-in meetings with our vendor Healthy Lunch Box to express strengths and concerns. The meetings have been very productive, and improvement has increased.

• Richey, Reveille, and Garden Villa completed the process of testing their center with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for lead in drinking water. Pasadena and EHS are pending.

• The Health and Nutrition Team attended and provided training at the ERSEA Training.

• DentaQuest continues to provide oral health presentations for our centers. DentaQuest has visited Reveille, Garden villa, Richey, Pasadena, Thompson and Early Head start for a total of seven (7) children’s presentation, two (2) parent meetings and ten (10) site visits to deliver dental kits and literature

• On March 8th, Thompson celebrated Dr. Seuss Day! Each classroom set up different stations that were Dr. Seuss themed. One station made Green Eggs & Ham while watching the cartoon Green Eggs and Ham, another station made Jello candy fish with blue Jello and red candy fish that reflected the book 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and another station used Oreos and gummy lifesavers to make the Cat in the Hat! The kids really enjoyed getting to use food to learn, and it encouraged them to try new foods!

SPECIAL SERVICES (SS):

• Head Start and Early Head Start requires that 10% of the Funded Enrollment includes children with disabilities. Head Start only recognized children with a disability that are eligible for services under Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). At the end of March 2024, it was determined 110 Head Start children and 7 Early Head Start

Children are enrolled in the program that are identified with disabilities GCCSA has a total of 117 children identified (7.8%). 78 children are identified with a speech impairment, 19 with Autism, 10 with Non-Categorical Early Childhood and 2 with Other Health Impairment and 1 with Hearing Impairment. In addition, the Special Services Department has 121 suspected Head Start children enrolled and 1 suspected Early Head Start children enrolled.

• The Special Services Manager met with Mekea Simon Coordinator 1 for the South Division for HISD to continue following up on all children referred to HISD. This is to ensure children are evaluated and provided with the services they need.

• IDEA is 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 Education Agency (LEA) holds the authority to identify children with disabilities. Please see the “Identified Children Per Campus” chart showing the number of children with disabilities per center.

Suspected Children:

• GCCSA’s Special Services Department is continuously enrolling children with suspected disabilities and their families for the 2023-2024 program year. As of the end of March 2024, 93 children have suspected speech concerns, 14 children have suspected Autism, 8 children have suspected social emotional concerns, and 19 children with both disability and social emotional concerns for a total of 121 suspected children suspected children. Please see the “Suspected Children Per Campus” chart showing the number of children with disabilities per center.

• Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings: The department assists with monitoring Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meetings. MDT meetings are held to ensure that children who are enrolled are given the opportunity to maximize the benefits of the program. For the month of March 2024, the Special Services Department obtained and attended 1 new MDT meeting reports from the agency’s content areas for a total of 71 meetings year to date

• Specialists’ Outcomes meetings were held this month. Meetings were held to discuss the status of children enrolled in Head Start & Early Head Start. Three separate meetings were held to allow small group discussions for MDT I, II and III.

GCCSA Disabilities and Mental Health Providers Services - (Advance Plus, Carr Speech, Personal Touch, Eaden Counseling, Providential Counseling and ANC-D Psychological Services) The Mental Health Providers continue to visit campuses weekly to provide consultation and support to staff and children. The Disability Providers continue to visit campuses to evaluate and provide speech therapy services to the students.

DEPARTMENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FROM THE PREVIOUS MONTH:

• The Child Development team and Assistant Director held their monthly ECE meeting with SHINE member to discuss teachers’ CLASS assessment scores.

• The Child Development Specialists in Collaboration with Center Administrators and Human Resources conducted virtual interviews and submitted candidate recommendations to hire Teacher/Teacher Assistants/Teacher Aides. The Health & Nutrition Manager conducted interviews for the Health Specialists’ vacant position. Interviews were also held for the Child Development Manager’s position.

Site Observation March 2024 Report:

• Site Observation Summary chart indicates the center visits made by the Health & Nutrition and Support Service Associates, Child Development, Family Empowerment, Health, Nutrition and Special Services Specialists for the month of March 2024. All GCCSA Site visits are required to provide support and meet the needs of children and staff at GCCSA Head Start and Early Head Start Centers.

HS/EHS Professional Development:

• The Child Development hosted professional development “Landing and Learning” –small group coaching. The presenter was Ms. Cheryl Angell, MS ED. She is the Early childhood Education Specialist, Region VI Head Start T/TA The training was held in 4 small group settings

• The Child Development team and SHINE

CPR/First Aide:

• For the month of March 2024, there were no staff that attended CPR/First Aide class.

New Hire Orientation:

• For the month of March 2024 there were two (2) Teacher III’s that started on March 18th, 2024 orientation We welcome all New Hires!

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES/EVENTS/TRAINING HOSTED BY DEPARTMENT:

April 4 Specialists’ Outcomes Meetings (MDT I, II, III)

April 8 – 12 Week of the Young Child

April 10 Professional Development

April 17 Program Options Meeting

April 22 New Hire Orientation

April 25 Health Services Advisory Committee Meeting

May 6-10 Teacher Appreciation Week

UPCOMING CONFERENCES TRAININGS HOSTED OUTSIDE OF GCCSA:

April 16 Healthy Lunch Box Quality Improvement Check-In

April 17 Monthly Meeting w/Office of Head Start Region VI Program Specialist, Lisa Tarrant

April 22 & 23 PAX Training

REQUIRED TRAININGS: (Training that must occur because of funding or regulatory requirements)

• CACFP Required Training & Bi- Weekly CACFP & Cook Training

• 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

• Conscience Discipline Training (overview)

• Disability & Mental Health Training & Social Emotional Development for Children

• ERSEA Training - required annually.

• Food Handlers Certification

• Developmentally Appropriate Practices, Health and Safety, Teaching and Learning Environment, Curriculum & Assessment

• HS/EHS Policies and Procedures Training: Practice-Based Coaching, Effective Classroom Management.

• Medication Administration Training

• Orientation for New Employees, Parents & Providers

• Pedestrian Safety at First Parent Upcoming

• Technology in the Classroom Training

• SIDS/ Shaken Baby training.

Preparing for the Week of the Young Child! – April 8-12