CAPK Head Start Programs

Head Start (Ages 3 to 5 Years)

Head Start is a comprehensive child development program for low-income families and children with disabilities. We are focused on supporting all areas of development and working with families every step of the way to ensure children are ready to enter kindergarten.

Did you know? Our brains are 85% developed by the time we enter kindergarten, so the first five years of a child’s life are critical to shaping their futures. Parents and guardians are our partners in stimulating children’s enthusiasm for learning.

CAPK is committed to providing services focused on school readiness, that nurtures a positive self-image and a supportive social environment for every child that enters our program. We use an age-appropriate curriculum designed to further your child’s knowledge and skills in all areas — physical, social, emotional, cultural, language, cognitive, health, and nutrition. This makes CAPK Head Start an excellent environment to prepare your child for the diversity they will encounter as they grow, enter school, and seek fulfillment as adults

Our curriculum provides experiences in the following areas:

  • Creative Art Activities
  • Dramatic Play
  • Music and Movement
  • Nature/Science/Technology
  • Language Development
  • Reading, Writing, and Math Readiness
  • Physical Development
  • Social Emotional Awareness
  • Health and Safety Practices
  • Enrichment Activities
  • Individual / Small Group Learning
  • Kindergarten Readiness

Early Head Start (Prenatal to 3 Years)

Early Head Start encompasses the first three years of life, including prenatal development. Our program recognizes that parents are their child’s first teachers and that it is important to nurture those relationships and help them grow. Nurturing healthy attachments is crucial to the healthy growth and development of infants and toddlers.

Infants (6 weeks to 24 months)
Our infant classrooms are designed to maintain a high ration of one (1) adult to three (3) children. This allows us meet every child’s individual needs and fosters close teacher/child interactions. Our highly skilled teachers customize lesson plans for each child based on their current stage of development, needs, and interests.

Toddlers (18-36 months)
Toddler classrooms maintain a ration of one (1) adult to four (4) children. A toddler’s daily schedule is more consistent and predictable than in an infant classroom. For example, toddlers typically eat and sleep as a group, and their transitions from one activity to the next are more predictable. A consistent schedule helps toddlers feel more in control and thus more competent and secure, but is still flexible enough to meet their individual needs and interests.

Home Base (Prenatal to 5 years old)

The Home-Based instruction model brings the core values of Early Head Start and Head Start into your home. Our skilled Home-based educators meet with your family once a week and adapts many of the same quality experiences your child would enjoy in a classroom.

Questions & Answers

Some centers open as early as 5am and are open as late as 5:30pm. Business hours vary location to location, depending on the size of center or needs of the community.

Head Start classrooms offer 3.5 hour Part Day services for 10 months, as well as 6 to 12 hour Full Day services for up to a full calendar year.

Early Head Start classrooms in Kern County operate XYZ hours a day for a full calendar year, accept in Ridgecrest California, which operates CAPK’s only Part Day Early Head Start program.

Did you know? Full day classrooms are subsidized by the California Department of Education (CDE), and allows us to accommodate parents/guardians who are continuing their own education or who are working/ looking for work.

Part day Head Start services are free. Our full day Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms are funded by both Head Start and the California Department of Education (CDE). The CDE collects a reduced fee from families who have children enrolled in full day classrooms.