HS/EHS Support Services May 2024 Monthly Report

GULF COAST COMMUNITY SERVICES ASSOCIATION

Head Start/Early Head Start Support Services

May 2024 Monthly Narrative Report

LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES

• Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) The April 2024 Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) claim was completed and submitted to the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) for reimbursement. In April there were 21 food service days for the month. There were 16 eligible sites and 1,518 eligible children. The number of meals provided: 7,426 breakfasts; 7,530 lunches and 22,723 PM snacks served. Expected reimbursement for the month is $77,741.04.

• This month we celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week and boy did we show a lot of love and appreciation to our “Out of This World” teachers They enjoyed daily gifts, a lunch and a wonderful reception. The leadership team led by our CEO Dr. Jonita “J” Reynolds expressed much appreciation for the work they do for our children and families. Enjoy a clip of the festivities by clicking on the link: Teacher Appreciation Reception Celebration 2024

• The May 2024 Storytime was read by GCCSA Early Head Start teachers Ms. Lenesha Rabsatt and Ms. Briana Sparks! They read to the children and staff “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” written by Eric Carle. The plot follows a very hungry caterpillar that consumes a variety of foods before pupating and becoming a butterfly. Storytime broadcast live to all sites via ZOOM on their Promethean Boards every third Wednesday of the month

• Specialists’ Outcomes Meetings were held this month. Content area specialists met to discuss the status of children and families enrolled in the program.

• The Spring Child Development Advisory Committee met this month. The committee approved the 2024-2025 School Readiness Goals to be presented to approved by the Policy Council and the Board of Directors.

CHILD DEVELOPMENT (CD)

Early Head Start: Threes: Theme 8“Amazing Critters” - (April 29- May 3) Week 1- Crawling Critters- This week the children will focus on crawling critters, such as ants, spiders, caterpillars, and beetles. Week 2- Flying Critters- This week the children will continue learning about small critters. Their focus will be our flying friends, such as butterflies, bees, mosquitoes, flies, and ladybugs. Week 3- Hopping Critters- This week the children will focus on critters that jump and hop. We will explore grasshoppers, crickets, and frogs. Week 4- Scaly and Slithering- The study of small creatures, takes us to scaly and slithering critters this week. We will focus on lizards, chameleons, snakes, iguanas, and worms. (May 27- May 31) Theme 9- “Animals”- Week 1- Zoo Animals- This week the children will focus on zoo animals that originate from a variety of nature environments (jungle, forest, prairie, ocean).

CHILD DEVELOPMENT

• Toddlers: Theme- 8 “Traditional Tales” - (April 29- May 3) Week 3- Three Billy Goats Gruff- This week the children will learn about the Three Billy Goats Gruff. This is a great tale of cooperation among siblings. Week 4- The Gingerbread Man- This week the children will learn about the Gingerbread Man and will participate in activities that spring from this classic story. Theme 9 “Traditional Songs”- (May 13- May17) Week 1- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star- This week the children sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and participate in activities that spring from the song's lyrics.(May 20-May 24) Week 2- Itsy Bitsy Spider- This week the children will sing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and participate in activities that spring from the song’s lyrics. (May 27- May 31) Week 3- The Wheels on the Bus- This week the children will sing “The Wheels on the Bus” and participate in activities that spring from the song’s lyrics.

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

• Raul Yzaguirre The May Theme at Raul was “Water” Investigation 1: Why Investigate water? Investigation 2: What are the different ways we use water? Investigation 3: How can water change? Investigation 4: How does water help people and the environment?

• Collaboration Campuses: HISD collaboration sites utilize several curriculums. The primary curriculum is Savvas, Three Cheers for Pre-K. Theme 9: Earth, Moon, and Sky” What do we see in the natural world around us? Each week students will explore activities to broaden their higher order thinking and connection to the real world. Week 1- “How does the earth help a tree grow?” Week 2 –“What we see in the sky?” Week 3 “How can we describe the moon?” Week 4: “What do astronauts do?”

• Stand-Alone Curriculum: Head Start Stand-Alone sites implement the Frogstreet Pre-K curriculum. May theme was Theme 9 “Changes/ Cambios”. Sub themes students studied: Week 1: “Earth Changes/La Tierra cambia” Week 2: Nurturing Earth/ “La Tierra nos nutre” Week 3: “Before and Now/Antes y ahora” Week 4: “Transitions and celebrations”

• 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 help them self-assess to improving their teaching skills.

• 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 1267 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 evidence-based vision and hearing screenings.

HEALTH & NUTRITION:

(continued)

• 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 Compliance Department has completed their 2nd round of CACFP internal audits, 4 centers did not have any findings. The 3rd and final round of audits has begun for the school year.

• The Nutrition Team attended the CACFP conference in Austin, Texas

• The nutrition team held a Civil Rights Certification training for Pasadena, a requirement for CACFP.

• 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.

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

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 May 2024, it was determined 137 Head Start children and 8 Early Head Start Children are enrolled in the program that are identified with disabilities GCCSA has a total of 145 children identified (9.6%). 101 children are identified with a speech impairment, 22 with Autism, 11 with NonCategorical Early Childhood and 2 with Other Health Impairment and 1 with Hearing Impairment. In addition, the Special Services Department has 97 suspected Head Start children enrolled and 4 suspected Early Head Start children enrolled.

Child Development Advisory Committee ended the spring meeting with a pause for a pic.

• 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 above.

• 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 May 2024, 71 children have suspected speech concerns, 11 children have suspected Autism, 10 children have suspected social emotional concerns, and 9 children with both disability and social emotional concerns for a total of 101 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 May 2024, the Special Services Department obtained and attended 1 new MDT meeting reports from the agency’s content areas for a total of 72 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.

• The ChildBuilder’s Program was also implemented at our Garden Villa, Pasadena, Reveille and Richey Head Start campuses. The program was implemented in the Fall of 2023 too, and the children demonstrated being able to remember the Stand Strong Stay Safe Safety Skills they learned which teaches them to be assertive when encountering unsafe situations.

Pictured are the Specialists conducting the Stand Strong Stay Safe program at the Head start Centers.

SPECIAL SERVICES (continued):

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:

• Nick Young, owner of the Young Music Company appeared in person at our centers to provide live movement and singing with our Head Start & Early Head Start children. He appears virtually monthly but celebrated the end of the school year in person. Enjoy the clip of one of his sessions with our children at Kelso HS! Click here: Mr. Nick sings GCCSA Theme Song with HS Children

• End of the Year (EOY) children’s assessment data were completed this month on all children enrolled in the program. The data will be reviewed and analyzed to prepare for presentation to the Policy Council and Board of Directors.

• Specialists Outcomes meetings were held to discuss and collaborate on the needs of children and families enrolled in the program.

Site Observation May 2024 Report:

The Site Observation Summary chart indicates the center visits made by the Special Services Manager, Health & Nutrition and Support Services Associates, Child Development, Family Empowerment, Health, Nutrition and Special Services Specialists for the month of May 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:

• A team of staff that included the Nutrition team, the Assistant Director of Support Services, Support Services Associate, Center Administrators, Compliance Specialists attended the Texas Department of Agriculture’s MegaCon this month. The conference covered all compliance and regulations as it relates to the Children and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). The conference is free and is a required training for the agency.

CPR/First Aide:

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

New Hire Orientation:

• For the month of May 2024 there was one (1) Health Specialist that began on May 28, 2024 orientation We welcome Health Specialist Amanda Bing.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES/EVENTS/TRAINING HOSTED BY DEPARTMENT:

June 5

June 11 – 18

Governance & Operations Committee Meeting

End of the Year Children Assessment Reviews

June 11 New Hire Orientation

June 11 Board Meeting

June 19 Juneteenth Holiday

July 8-19 CDA Classes

July 23 -26

July 29 – 31

HS/EHS Professional Development

GCCSA Professional Development Institute

UPCOMING CONFERENCES TRAININGS HOSTED OUTSIDE OF GCCSA:

June 3 – 6

National Center for Early childhood Development, Teaching and Learning Coach Camp

June 17 SHINE ECE Meeting

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 [Grab your reader’s attention with a great quote from the document or use this space to emphasize a key point. To place this text box anywhere on the page, just drag it.]

• 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.

Pictured with TDA Commissioner Sid Miller is l to r Karla Arias, Geneva Bautista, Commissioner Miller, Kathy Johnson and Andre Velez