GULF COAST COMMUNITY SERVICES ASSOCIATION
Head Start/Early Head Start Support Services Monthly Narrative October 2025
LEADERSHIPACTIVITIES:
• ChildandAdultCareFoodProgram(CACFP)TheSeptember2025ChildandAdultCareFoodProgram(CACFP) claim was completed and submitted to the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) for reimbursement. In August there were 20 food service days for the month. There were 13 eligible sites and 1,192 eligible children. The number of meals provided: 5,731 breakfasts; 5,823 lunches and 18,132 PM snacks served. Expected reimbursement for the month is $63,730.38. Two of our newest Head Start centers will apply for CACFP pending receipt of the Child Care License, DeAnda & Reynolds. Head Start centers Garden Villa, Garden Villas and Reveille were closed in the CACFPTX-UNPS system on the last day of September. The new CACFP year began October 1.
• Mr. Calvin Denson, Author and Owner of Denson Books, joined the children and staff for GCCSA’s October Story Time. He read his delightful children’s book “Abuela.” The story follows young Emilio as he spends a day with his grandmother, learning to garden, bake cookies, and embrace his Spanish heritage. As they pull weeds and mix cookie dough, Abuela teaches Emilio new Spanish words, sharing lessons about the beauty of family, culture, and connection.
• The 2024–2025 Self-Assessment has been completed and submitted to the HS/EHS Director for final review. Once her review is complete, the document will be ready to share with the Policy Council and the Board of Directors.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT (CD):
• Early Head Start- Themes taught for this month were: Infants- In these two classrooms the teachers implement the Activity Tracking Cards to plan for each child according to their individual need. Toddler- Theme2- Family and Homes Week 4- Homes- This week children will explore the concepts of home including homes for people and homes for animals. Theme 3- Friends- Week 1- Everyday friends- This week children will explore friends and friendships with a focus on their caregivers and school friends. Week 2- Friends Who Keep Us Healthy- This week children will learn 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 will learn about who keep them safe: firefighters and police officers.
• Threes- Theme 3- Colors Shapes and Sizes- Week 1- Colors- This week children will begin using color, not only as a way to describe something, but also as a way to group items into sets. Week 2- ShapesChildren will review shapes this week. They will also begin using shapes, not only to describe something but also as a way to group items into sets. Week 3- Size- Children will review size this week. They will begin using size, not only to describe something, but also as a way to group items into sets.
• Raul Yzaguirre P-Stem & RYSS Stem Teaching Strategies- Children are still studying Boxes. Themes: Boxes. Subtheme: What can we do with boxes? What do we know about boxes? What do we want to find out? What are the characteristics of boxes? Which jobs involve boxes? How can we move boxes? Family Partnerships Invite families to bring in boxes with environmental prints in their home languages. WOW! Experiences.
Early Head Start teachers attend virtual training presented by SHINE partner.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(CD) continued:
• Frogstreet Pre-K Curriculum: Theme 2: My Family and Friends/Mi familia y mis amigos. Week 1: Community/comuidad, Week 2: Theme 3: Tiants/os gigantes: Big & Little/Grande y Pequeno. Week 3: Nature’s Giants/Los gigantes: Big & Little/Grande y Pequeno Week 3: Nature’s Giants/Gigantes de la naturaleza, Week 4: Giants Made by People/ Gigantes hechos por el hombre.
• On October 2nd, Ms. Sonali from Shine visited the Corporate Office to provide a training for our Early Head Start Teachers and Center Administrators on “Building Language for Infants and Toddlers.” The teachers actively participated and were highly engaged throughout the training.
• Center Administrator, Ms. Briani Liddell shared a wonderful moment with the Pre-K classes at Thompson. Students and staff kicked off their Science Fridays for the year with a hands-on Candy Corn Experiment. Students placed candy corn in three different liquids, water, vinegar, and apple juice to see which one would dissolve the fastest. Before starting, they made predictions and observations. Over time, they watched carefully and compared how each candy corn responded in the different liquids. The activity sparked great curiosity and conversation. I also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Tolu and Alex, they delivered the materials promptly and helped make the experiment a success. Attached are some photos from the experiment. Pre-K students are looking forward to many more exciting Science Friday’s.
• The Child Development Manager participated in a virtual meeting for the AVANCE School Readiness Committee Meeting.
• The Child Development team attended a CLI Data Presentation meeting at Thompson Head Start, where they discussed assessment domains and identified areas for improvement.
• Child Development Specialists in Collaboration conduct virtual interviews and candidate recommendations with support to hire Teacher/Teacher Assistants/Teacher
• The Child Development Team is currently conducting student observations and reviewing Behavior Incident Forms to provide appropriate Tier II strategies and support for children in need. At this time, across all centers, there are a total of thirteen students receiving Tier II interventions
• The Child Development Manager is working with the Human Resources Department to recruit qualified applicants for interview for the two Child Development Specialist’s open positions.
• The Child Development Team participated in conducting the Child Builders training.
• The Child Development Team is ordering classroom materials for hands-on activities with the children during the Winter Wonderland celebration.
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 the Head Start enrollment is 1151 and EHS is at full enrollment of 111 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 toestablishifthechildisuptodate on a schedule of age-appropriate preventive and primary medical and oral health care. This is based on the well-child 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.
HEALTH & NUTRITION
(H/N): continued
• The Health & Nutrition Team is preparing for the New Hire Orientation sessions for new employees in the upcoming school year.
• The Health Team has ensured that every child has an initial immunization status entered into Shine, allowing for the creation of a working report. Training sessions were conducted for Kathy, Geneva, Karina, and Alex on immunization status procedures, while temporary staff received guidance on entering physical and dental data into Shine.Additionally, vision and hearing screenings have been carried out across centers to support comprehensive health tracking.
• The Nutrition Team is actively supporting center-level cooks by offering guidance and assistance. We also distributed Nutritional Service Notices to all sites and provided nutritional supplies to schools for science-related activities. Below is an example from Thompson Elementary, showcasing a hands-on science activity where students learned how to make butter.
SPECIALSERVICES (SS):
Head Start and Early Head Start requires that 10% of the Actual 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 October 2025, a total of 41 children, including 37 Head Start and 4 Early Head Start children, representing 3% of the actual enrollment, have been identified with a disability. Of the children identified with a disability, Thirty-three (33), or 80% have a Speech Impairment; three (3) or 7%, have Autism, two (2) or 5%, are identified with a Non-Categorical Early Childhood condition; two (2) or 5% have an Other Health Impairment; and one (1), or 2% have a Deaf-Hearing 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 October 2025, the Special Services Department identified 168 children in the Head Start program and 9 children in the Early Head Start program as suspected of having a disability, totaling 177 children. This represents approximately 14% of the total children enrolled Of the children suspected of having a disability, 130 (73%) have speech concerns, 28 (16%) are suspected ofAutism, 3 (2%) have social-emotional concerns, 14 (8%) present with both a disability and social-emotional concerns, 1 (1%) is suspected of having Dyslexia, and 1 (1%) child has occupational or physical concerns. Approximately 23% of the children that are currently suspected are receiving private services.
Please see the “Suspected Children Per Campus” chart showing the number of children with suspected disabilities.
The Special Services Manager has continued collaborating with the HISD Interventions Department to discuss and review Head Start student referrals and has also worked with CenterAdministrators to develop CorrectiveAction Plans as an additional measure to support meeting the requirement that at least 10% of enrolled students have an identified disability.
Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings:
The department assists with monitoring Multi-Disciplinary (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 October 2025, the Special Services Department obtained and attended 3 new MDT and a total of 25 year to date.
The Special Services Department along with the other Content Area Departments, presented the ChildBuilder’s Stand Strong Stay Safe Program to Pasadena Head Start and Richey Head Start. The program is a safety education curriculum that teaches children the assertiveness and emotional literacy skills they need to build positive communities, stand up for themselves, and get help when faced with unsafe situations.
GCCSA Disabilities and Mental Health Providers Services -
(Advance Plus, Angels of Care, Personal Touch, Eaden Counseling, Providential Counseling, ANC-D Psychological Services and Marshall Counseling Services)
Mental Health Classroom Observations have been completed at all the campuses. This is a useful tool to identify coaching needs for teachers as well as any additional support that may be needed for individual children. The Special Services Manager and Child Development Manager will meet to review observations and identify what support is needed.
Mental Health Provider,ANC-D Psychological Services, conducted a virtual parent training titled “Challenging Behaviors and Stress Management”.
DEPARTMENTACCOMPLISHMENTS:
• New Hire Orientation: During the month of October, there were a total of five (5) new hires to come on board. They consisted of three (3) Teacher positions, one (1) Family Service Specialist and one (1) Cook/Custodian - Ambassador We warmly welcome our new hires
• CPR/First Aid: There were two (2) teaching staff that attended CPR classes and received certification during the month of October In attendance were staff from our collaboration site RYSS STEM Academy Pasadena location.
• Specialists’Outcomes Meeting: Specialists will host their next meeting in November to discuss outcomes and follow-up needed for children and families
• Shine Data meeting was held this month with our SHINE partner, Bethany Lovings and Head Start/Early Head Start management team members.
HS/EHS PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT:
• The Health & Nutrition Manager attended the virtual training on , "Introduction to Evidence-Based Hearing Screening Practices for Children Ages 0-5" . The webinar was provided by the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management
• The Health & Nutrition Manager also attended the “Meal Production Records for CACFP”. This class taught participants how to accurately complete required Meal Production Records for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Meal production records support the successful management of the food service operation, facilitate communication, and document compliance with the CACFP child and adult care meal pattern requirements.
• Training was provided to the staff at Richey Head Start on Eloping and Safety Concerns.
• To prevent future errors in the CACFP reports, any Center Administrator who submits a report with errors will be required to complete a Corrective Action Plan. The plan should outline steps to eliminate the recurrence of the same error. Ms. Geneva Bautista, Support Services Associate, and Ms. Ebony Nickerson provided training to the Center Administrators to support this process.
• The Assistant Director, Health & Nutrition Manager and the Support Services Associate updated the required Texas Department of Agriculture’s training on “Claims Submission, claims Review Procedures and Reimbursement System” The training is a virtual training that will be completed in November by all required staff.
Site Observation Report – October 2025: October and November Site Observation reports will be reflected in next month’s report due to a glitch in our system.
UPCOMINGACTIVITIES/EVENTS/TRAINING HOSTED BY DEPARTMENT:
November 10-14
November 11
November 12
New Hire Orientation
HS/EHS Monthly Directors’Meeting
HS/EHS Management Team Meeting
Fall Health & Mental Health ServicesAdvisory Committee Meeting
November 13 Support Services Team Meeting
November 18
Child DevelopmentAdvisory Committee Meeting
CS Thanksgiving Giveaway
November 19 GCCSAStory Time
November 20 Specialists’Outcome Meeting: Bastian, EHS, Patterson, RYSS and Woodson
December 1 – 19 –
Blackout Period
PCOMING CONFERENCES TRAININGS HOSTED OUTSIDE OF GCCSA:
November 4
November 14
November 12
December 13
Election Day
Healthy Lunch Box CAMonthly Meeting
UH Bounce Nutrition Program – Raul Yzaguirre
WheelerAvenue Baptist Church Give-Away
REQUIRED TRAININGS:
• CDATraining
• Civil Rights Training (annual)
• CLASS and Teacher Success Rubric
• Training for new and returning staff.
• ChildAbuse and Neglect Training annually
• CPR & FirstAid Training
• Coaching and Mentoring Strategies CD Specialists & Teachers
• ERSEATraining - required annually.
• Food Handlers Certification
• MedicationAdministration Training
• Orientation for New Employees, Parents & Providers
• DevelopmentallyAppropriate 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
• Disability & Mental Health Training & Social Emotional Development for Children
• SIDS/ Shaken Baby training.
