The first local parent meetings have been held, and your Policy Council representatives and alternates have been chosen! The Policy Council is one side of our parent leadership system in Head Start/Early Head Start.

The Policy Council is made up of a representative and an alternate from each center as well as one from home base north and one from home base south. These reps meet each month on the 3rd Thursday at 1pm. The PC hears reports from each of the departments, including ERSEA (eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendace), fiscal, family and community outreach, Head Start, Early Head Start, health, and an overall report from the executive director. The PC hears how we spend our time and our money to make the program as powerful as it is for your children and families.

The PC also has a hand in our hiring process, and members might be asked to review job applications we receive, or even serve on an interview panel. The members participate each meeting in a closed session, where all staff and non-voting members leave the room and the PC and our human resources manager talk about staffing changes.

PC members also get to serve on some committees and do special projects. Last year, the Parent Engagement committee, among other things, organized participation in the Red Bluff Round Up parade.

Participating in the Policy Council is great experience. You can put it on a resume, you build public speaking skills, and you make great contacts. Your experience can lead you to later serve on school site councils or school boards. It also sends a great message to your child that their school is important and worth your extra time. Above all else, you get to be sure that the program is making decisions that are in the best interest of all of the kids we serve.

Plus, we serve lunch!

We are kicking off the year right with two family-friendly events! We call them Dad's Nights and we want to encourage dads to attend, but moms, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, etc are welcome to come. The focus of these two events is Dental Health, and parents will get a chance to do some interactive things around good tooth brushing skills and visits to the dentists with their children. There will also be food and everyone will take home some dental supplies.

The first one is on Sept. 22 at West Street Center. We are so excited to share this event with the families at West Street and at their center. We hope to see all of the Corning area NCCDI families there.

The second event is the following week, Sept. 29th at Red Bluff Center. All NCCDI families are invited!

Remember that any of these events you attend earns in-kind match hours for the program, so make sure every adult who attends signs in.

The first parent meetings of the year are underway! Tonight, West Street and Maywood Parents have their meetings, Tadpoles met last week...everyone is gearing up. Parent meetings are very important to both the program and the families. And they can be a lot of fun too.

This first meeting will be the time to elect parent group officers and Policy Council representatives. If you want to be a part of the leadership of the program countywide, this is a great way to do it. The meeting will also feature a hands-on learning opportunity, some discussion about what parents would like to see happening in the classroom for the upcoming month, and calendar planning. There will be a snack of some kind as well. We provide childcare, so the kids can have fun while we meet, even your non-Head Start/Early Head Start kiddos if you bring them.

Attending events and meetings such as this give you the opportunity to network with other parents, and get to know the teachers even better. You get to make suggestions for the classroom learning your child will experience, and plan activities. Its good for your child too, to help them see that you find their school so important that you will give your time to help out. You can gain valuable leadership skills in the process, and many former parent group leaders and Policy Council members have gone on to school site councils and school board leadership as their child has gotten older.

Take part in your local parent meeting, and be involved in something great!

We're so glad to be back to school and again working with your children. The classrooms are prepped and ready, great, nutritious food is coming from our kitchens and we are ready to learn.

As you probably heard at your parent orientation or during your enrollment home visit, we are striving for a 95% attendance rate this year. We want to see your child in class as much as possible so that they can get every minute of instruction time and be fully prepared to transition to Kindergarten and beyond. 

We have provided families with the option to take up to 10 Best Interest Days throughout the year. These are days that would be considered excused absences that you might use for vacations, visiting relatives, attending events, etc. Your child is also excused from school in the event of health exclusions, illnesses like fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and head lice. And any time your child is out of class completing Head Start requirements like doctor or dentist appointments, and vaccinations. 


Above all else, communication is key.Keep in contact with your teacher! Let someone know if your child will be out of class, tell us if you have a health issue that is contagious so that we can clean up and sanitize the classroom, let us know if you want to use a Best Interest Day. Lets work together to make sure your child gets the most out of their Head Start or Early Head Start Experience!