Project Head Start, launched as an 8 week summer program by the
Office of Economic Opportunity in 1965, was designed to help break the cycle of
poverty by providing preschool children of low income families with a very
comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional and
psychological needs.
The Head Start Program serves children age 3 to school age.
The program has undergone many improvements over the years and has played a major role in focusing the attention of the Nation to the importance of early childhood development.
Studies show that Head Start children perform equal to or better than their peers when they enter public schools and there are fewer grade retentions and special class placements among former Head Start children.
Head Start now serves over 904,000 children and their families each year in urban and rural communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. Since 1965, Head Start has served 27 million children and their families.