Connecticut Institute For Communities, Inc. sponsors the Head Start of Northern Fairfield County Program, Early Head Start, and the Greater Norwalk Head Start programs, annually serving about 500 low-income preschool children and their families through center-based programs and services.
What Is Head Start?
Head Start is a Federal program designed to advance the school readiness of low-income children by providing comprehensive early childhood care and education, as well as family development services that include health, education, social services, and parent-community involvement.
What Towns Does Head Start Serve?
- Danbury, Bethel, Brookfield, Newtown, New Fairfield, Redding, Ridgefield and Sherman.
- Norwalk, New Canaan, Weston, Westport and Wilton.
When is Head Start?
Head Start offers full-day and part-time classes throughout the day. For Danbury, please call (203) 743-3993 for more information or questions. For Norwalk, please call (203) 791-5090.
Why Head Start?
The need for Head Start is great, particularly in Danbury and Norwalk, where a substantial portion of the population is low-income, which is a major factor in the Danbury and Norwalk School Districts' designations by the State as "priority school districts," indicating that the districts require additional resources to support students’ academic achievement.
Head Start is a critically important response to that need. From birth to age five, children are learning more rapidly than at any other time in their life span. The experiences a child has during this time period, both at home and in their early care and education settings, have the greatest influence on their social, emotional and educational development. It is the foundation that supports later school achievement, future economic earning potential, and the ability to become a responsible adult.
At the close of the June 2016 school year, 86% of the children enrolled in CIFC's Head Start were meeting the Connecticut Preschool Benchmarks! This level of achievement has a significant impact on the community and schools, and saves substantial school system dollars, by reducing the need for remedial educational services and the related costs to taxpayers.
Without Head Start, hundreds of children in our area would be unprepared for kindergarten and later grades.