As Orange County families gear up for a new school year, more than 1,500 children will be walking into classrooms with a special head start — literally.
The Orange County Head Start program provides comprehensive, no-cost early childhood education to children from low-income families. Spread across 23 locations — including public school campuses and County facilities — the program supports not just young learners, but their families too.
“Our approach to school readiness means children are ready for school, families are ready to support learning and schools are ready for children,” said Avis McWhite, Senior Program Manager for Head Start. “It’s about preparing the whole child — and the whole family — for success.”
That preparation is rooted in school readiness goals based on the Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards. The curriculum is aligned with the federal Early Learning Outcomes Framework and targets five key areas: approaches to learning, social and emotional development, language and literacy, cognition and physical development…