On October 22, 1982, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed October Head Start Awareness Month. Since 1982, Head Start has provided a window of opportunity to millions of children. Head Start is a federally-funded child development program designed to help break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional and psychological needs.
Head Start’s approach is that the parent is the child’s primary educator and that the entire family, as well as the community, must be involved in guiding and nurturing the child.
Head Start was launched in 1965 as an eight-week summer program.
Since then, Head Start programs are operated by over 1500 community-based organizations in all 50 states and US Territories.