Head Start Returns to Williamsburg After a Nearly Three-Year Hiatus

Nearly three years after shutting its classroom doors in Williamsburg, Blair County Head Start is back in a new location, with a new executive director, but with the same goals that define the Head Start program nationwide.

"It is so wonderful to be back in Williamsburg," said Jennifer Neely, who assumed the role of executive director in March. "We always had great enrollment here and the community always supported Head Start."

Presidential beginnings

Head Start was established nationally in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's war on poverty, which was introduced during Johnson's 1964 State of the Union address to combat the country's rising poverty rate. That same year congress passed the Economic Opportunity Act which, among other programs, expanded the federal government's role in education to reduce poverty.

"Head Start's focus is on breaking those intergenerational cycles of poverty and lifting families up and providing economic mobility," said Neely. "It's not just about what is happening at the preschool level."

Administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start's focus on early childhood education and parental involvement for low-income families strives to strengthen the family and give children the tools to develop emotional and physical health so they can enter elementary school on the same developmental level as children from more economically privileged households.

"Head Start is so much about community engagement and long-term partnerships with families feeling like they really are partners in their children's education," said Neely.

While Head Start's preschool program supports the next generation and gives them a "head start" to their education, Neely said the community engagement team works with families to support their goals.

"We want to know what's important to them," said Neely. "What are they working on next as an adult and as a parent and how can we provide them with the resources to support that. It is still a highly rated preschool with a four-star rating, the best preschool option and more."

Pandemic casualty

The pandemic shattered everyone's version of normal with personal, business and educational lives unprecedentedly altered seemingly overnight with arguably children suffering the most by taking away the group and social interactions that are an important part of a child's early learning development.

The Head Start program takes the social component of learning a step further by actively involving the families and communities of the students. Family participation plays a vital role in the success of the students, but pandemic restrictions kept families out of the classroom, essentially ending their active involvement in their children's early education.

"Families being in the classroom consistently as volunteers is an important way for them to be partners in their children's education," Neely said. "Because that stopped for three years, it became a totally different culture."

Neely said it wasn't until May of this year that families were allowed back into the classrooms due to vaccine mandates and other requirements. She said getting back to a pre-COVID routine was more than simply going back to the way things were.

"It really was more making up for lost time, not just picking up where we left off," she said. "It really has taken a lot just to get back to a starting line."

Building enrollment

The COVID-19 pandemic created staffing issues that forced Head Start to abruptly close its Williamsburg classroom in 2020.

"When it closed, a lot of people were disappointed," said Neely.

Neely said the pandemic took its toll on Head Start programs across the country as enrollment numbers dropped due to COVID related concerns. In Blair County, along with Williamsburg, Head Start closed one of its two classrooms in Claysburg and its classroom in the Greenwood section of Altoona.

"Enrollment in Head Start nationwide has been down through and since COVID and Blair County is no different," said Neely.

Neely said her primary focus since becoming executive director is building enrollment back up to pre-COVID numbers.

"That was the charge from our board and the hope of our staff who care very much about serving our communities and serving those children who need a head start before they get into school," she said.

Neely said Head Start, from the federal level down, is making enrollment its top priority and get back to "serving the neediest families in our country and our communities." Neely said Head Start has been slowly building its enrollment back up and has made enough strides to return to Williamsburg as well as reopening the second location in Claysburg and its Greenwood classroom.

Neely said the pandemic-era staffing issues, while not completely solved, are much better.

"In terms of staffing, we are not here yet," she said. "Our classrooms are fully staffed which is a huge celebration for us because it's the first time that's happened since the beginning of 2020. We are still struggling with the bus driver shortage like most schools are, but for the first time in four school years we are fully staffed in our classrooms and that is exciting."

A new home

When the decision to return to Williamsburg was made, the first challenge was finding a building to house the classrooms. Previous Head Start Classes were held in the basement of the library and then the basement of a local church. Neely said it was decided that Head Start needed its own building and they set out to find one,

"It was really a matter of 'let's get in the car and drive around and see what we see,'" she said.

Neely said while driving through town last May they spotted a for sale sign on the lawn of the former Reformed Church on West Third Street and called the number and asked if they could see the building right away.

"Pretty quickly we got it done" she said. "It's a great building, a great location with two spaces for the children and we can see where we will put a playground."

Neely said the response from the community was positive as word spread that Head Start was returning to town.

"As soon as we closed on the building and posted on Facebook that we were officially bringing the program back, and that we were going to be offering transportation on school buses, I think within 24 hours there were 74 shares in Williamsburg," she said. "So much of that was community word of mouth."

Neely said the hope was that they would get an enrollment of at least 10 kids, but they surpassed that and have 15 registered and two more in the process.

"From a preschool perspective there is a certain square footage ratio per child," she said. "We can go up to 18 but 15 is what we thought the community could support."

Neely said she is excited to bring Head Start back to Williamsburg and looks forward to a long relationship with the community.

"We always had great enrollment in Williamsburg, and it was a shame to leave," she said. "It's so wonderful to be back where the community is happy to have us, and we are happy to be able to be here to support the educational growth and family development of the community."