The county Head Start program, thanks to its new location at the Brookside Education Center, can serve more families and children in the coming year, said coordinator Paulette Beckmann.

Thursday, August 02, 2001

The county Head Start program, thanks to its new location at the Brookside Education Center, can serve more families and children in the coming year, said coordinator Paulette Beckmann.

&uot;We’ve been working and planning this move for a long time. It allows us to add some staff and bring in more children because we have all this space now,&uot; she said.

Head Start’s old location on Bridge Avenue was too small to allow for office space, Beckmann said. Instead of working on site with her teachers, she had a separate office in the Chamber of Commerce building in downtown Albert Lea. Now the entire program is located on the first floor of the Brookside Education Center in a newly remodeled space with more than 4,200 square feet.

Brookside is also the home of the school district’s early-childhood special education program, Even Start, the Albert Lea Community Child Care Center’s infant/toddler child care center and the Area Learning Center.

&uot;Being at Brookside allows us to co-locate with other agencies that serve children,&uot; Beckmann said. &uot;We can see a lot of possibilities for sharing resources in the future.&uot;

The added space allows Head Start to begin a home-based combo program this year for three-year-olds. The program combines home visits with classroom time. Other services include health and dental screenings, daily meals, transportation and bilingual aides, all with an emphasis on parental involvement.

&uot;The ultimate goal for us is to have a location as family friendly as possible,&uot; Beckmann said. &uot;We want parents to feel welcome because the best teachers for kids are still their parents.&uot;

Head Start is a nationwide program designed to educate income-eligible preschoolers and their parents to help them prepare for public school. It is a full-service family support and development program – all at no cost to the families it serves.

For more information about Head Start, call 379-5160.