GULF COAST COMMUNITY SERVICES ASSOCIATION Head Start/Early Head Start Support Services November 2023 Monthly Narrative Report LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES • Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) The October 2023 Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) claim was completed and submitted to the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) for reimbursement. In October there were 21 food service days for the month. There were 16 eligible sites and 1,518 eligible children. The number of meals provided: 7,803 breakfasts; 7,887 lunches and 23,118 PM snacks served. Expected reimbursement for the month is $80,685.32. • Author Calvin Denson read to the children and staff for the November GCCSA Storytime! He read two of his children’s books – “Mommy Had Eyes in the Back of Her Head “and “My Dad Says Yes!”. He set up his studio at the Reveille Head Start center where he read live to the children there and broadcast to all sites via ZOOM on their Promethean Boards. • The Child Development Advisory Committee met in November. Meeting notes are available upon request to one the Child Development Specialist. Members will reconvene in April for the Spring meeting. CHILD DEVELOPMENT (CD) • Early Head Start: Threes: Theme 3- “Color, Shape and Size”- Week 1- Color- This week, the children were introduced to colors as attributes for several weeks. This week the children will begin using color, not only to describe something, but also as a way to group items into sets. Week 2Shapes- The children will review shapes this week. They will also begin using shapes, not only as a way to describe something, but also as a way to group items into sets. Week 3- SizeThis week, the children will begin using size, not only as a way to describe something, but also as a way to group items into sets. Week 4- This week the children will use what they have learned about color, shape, and size to increase their use of multiple attributes to classify materials. The children will also review and practice open-ended classification. Toddlers: Theme- 3 “Friends” - Week 1- Everyday Friends- This week children explored friends and friendships with a focus on their caregiver and school friends. Week 2- Friends Who Keep Us Healthy- This week children learned about people who help take care of them and keep them healthy: doctors, nurses, dentists, and veterinarians. Week 3- Friends Who Keep Us Safe- This week children learned about people who keep them safe: firefighters and police officers. Week 4Friends with Helpful Hands- This week children learned about community friends with helpful hands: mail carrier, courier, and trash collector.
Infants: Teachers implemented the Activity Trackers Card to plan activities according to each child’s individual need in both Infant classrooms. Support Services November 2023 Monthly Report
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CHILD DEVELOPMENT (continued) •
Raul Yzaguirre The November theme at Raul was “Music Making do We Want to Find Out? Investigation 1: What instruments can we play by hitting, tapping, or shaking them? Investigation 2: What other musical instruments are there? How do people play them? Investigation 3: How can we make music with our voices? Investigation 4: What different styles of music are there? How do they make us feel? Investigation 5: Who works with music for their job? What tools do they use? Families were invited to bring in boxes with environmental print in their home languages.
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Collaboration Campus Several curriculums are being used in our HISD collaboration sites. The primary curriculum is Savvas, Three Cheers for Pre-K. The theme for November: Taking Care! How do we take care of ourselves? Week 1: Grow Strong. Week 2 Thank You, Omu. Week 3 The Desert is My Mother. Week 4 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World. Teaching teams utilize small group activities and print and language rich classrooms for English Language Learners to practice and develop. The secondary curriculum used at one of our collaboration sites, Codwell Elementary, to support kindergarten readiness and the science of reading is Amplify.
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Stand-Alone Curriculum: Head Start Stand-Alone sites implement the Frogstreet Pre-K curriculum. November theme was: Theme 3- “Giants/los gigantes”. Sub themes students studied: Week 1: Giants Made by People/Gigantes hechos por el hombre, Week 2: Make Believe Giants/Gigantes imaginarios, Week 3: Thanksgiving Holiday, Week 4: Theme 4- Choices/Decisiones. Week 1: Making Choices/Yo tomo decisiones. •
PlayMotion Music with Mr. Nick Young has begun. Weekly
live music and movement and access to PlayMotion Music curriculum online. This is a comprehensive, multimedia, online curriculum that is used to lead active, engaging and joyful interactive music and movement activities with our students in the classroom every day. Support Services November 2023 Monthly Report
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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 1280 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 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. •
Fall Health Services Advisory Committee meeting was held in November.
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The health team attended the PlusOptix vision screener training to utilize the new machines.
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The nutrition team attended Region 4 CACFP training at The Food Bank.
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The nutrition team continues to hold bimonthly check-in meetings with our vendor Healthy Lunch Box to express strengths and concerns. The meetings have been very productive and improvement has increased.
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The health and nutrition team completed fall folder reviews for all centers.
Support Services November 2023 Monthly Report
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SPECIAL SERVICES (SS): Number of Children Identified with a Disability Enrolled: •
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 November 2023, it was determined 56 Head Start children and 3 Early Head Start Children are enrolled in the program that are identified with disabilities. GCCSA has a total of 59 children identified (3.90%). 46 children are identified with a speech impairment, 4 with Autism, 8 with NonCategorical Early Childhood and 1 with Other Health Impairment. In addition, the Special Services Department has 185 suspected Head Start children enrolled and 5 suspected Early Head Start children enrolled.
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The Special Services Manager met with Natalie Pruitt from HISD to continue following up on all children referred to HISD. She will no longer be the contact person. The Special Services Manager will now meet with Anna Lopez, Coordinator 1 of the North Division of HISD. This is to ensure children are evaluated and provided with the services they need.
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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 enrolling children with suspected disabilities and their families for the 2023-2024 program year. As of the end of November 2023, 117 children have suspected speech concerns, 21 children have suspected Autism, 14 children have suspected social emotional concerns, and 33 children with both disability and social emotional concerns for a total of 185 suspected children.
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In Early Head Start, there are 5 children with suspected disabilities. Please see the “Suspected Children Per Campus” chart showing the number of children with suspected disabilities per center. Support Services November 2023 Monthly Report
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SPECIAL SERVICES (continued): •
Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings: The department assists with monitoring Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meetings when needed. 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 November 2023, the Special Services Department obtained and attended 4 new MDT meeting reports from the agency’s content areas for a total of 60 meetings year to date.
GCCSA Disabilities and Mental Health Providers Services - (Advance Plus, Carr Speech, Personal Touch, Eaden Counseling, Providential Counseling and ANC – Psychological Services) The Mental Health Providers have completed Mental Health Classroom Observations. • ANC-D Psychological Services provided additional teacher training on the topic of ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. DEPARTMENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FROM THE PREVIOUS MONTH: •
Specialists’ Outcomes meetings were held this month. Specialists and Managers reviewed the progress of children in their respective areas as a team, working together to determine any additional support needs in the classrooms.
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The GCCSA Head Start/SHINE planning meeting was held this month to assess and evaluate goals for the current school year.
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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.
HS/EHS Professional Development: •
Child Development Specialists Ashley Elvoit and Mayra Summers and Special Services Specialists Esmeralda Whaley and Gregg Yarborough attended the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference this month. NAEYC gathered together early childhood educators from around the globe to connect, collaborate, and learn together.
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The Management team and Center Administrators attended the Blue EQ final follow-up session. Each team member was able to review their individual emotional intelligence progress and reviewed the team’s progress together. There was great improvement!
Site Observation November 2023 Report: Site Observation Summary chart indicates the center visits made by the Health & Nutrition and Support Service Associates, Health & Nutrition and Special Services Manager and the Child Development, Family Empowerment, Health, Nutrition and Special Services Specialists for the month of November 2023. 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. New Hire Orientation: •
For the month of November there were no new hires that started. We welcome all New Hires!
CPR/First Aide: • One (1) Child Development Specialist attended CPR/First Aide class in November.
Support Services November 2023 Monthly Report
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UPCOMING ACTIVITIES/EVENTS/TRAINING HOSTED BY DEPARTMENT: December 4: December 20: December 25 – January 4:
New Hire Orientation GCCSA StoryTime Holiday Break
UPCOMING CONFERENCES TRAININGS HOSTED OUTSIDE OF GCCSA: December 6: December 14: January 5:
San Jacinto College – Child Development Advisory Meeting GCCSA ECE Shine Meeting Trauma Series Module 300: Strengthening Self-Awareness and Self-Care to Reduce Stress
REQUIRED TRAININGS: (Training that must occur because of funding or regulatory requirements) • • • • • • • • • • • •
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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.
Support Services November 2023 Monthly Report
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