Cozad Head Start

Strengthening children, families, and communities through quality education, comprehensive health and family services, and by fostering community partnerships.

Head Start believes that the parent is the child’s first and primary teacher. Parents know their children best and are looked upon as partners in their child’s Early Head Start or Head Start experience.

Head Start began as part of President Lyndon Baines Johnson‘s War on Poverty and The Great Society. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 first authorized the program. The Office of Economic Opportunity’s Community Action Program launched Project Head Start as an eight-week summer program in 1965. At this time Community Action Partnership (CAP) of Mid Nebraska’s Head Start program began. Head Start transitioned into part day, part year programming in the early ‘70s offering services to 54 children and their families in Kearney. Today Community Action Partnership of Mid Nebraska Head Start has center-based services and home-based services in 15 counties in Nebraska and 2 counties in Kansas and serves 338 children and families.

Here in Cozad we serve 16 families.  We are considered a full day program that goes 6.5 hours Monday thru Friday.   We are preparing the children for kindergarten and providing parents with the tools to advocate for their child and to continue preparing their children for school at home.  We are also providing parents with referrals within in the community for any need they have.  Children are required to have a dental, vision and physical exam.