In rural Alaska, the federally funded Head Start preschool program has helped parents earn college degrees.
It has put parents with drug addictions on paths toward recovery and educated children who have ended up in foster care.She was a teenager, and the mother of a 2-year-old, when a knock came on the door of the trailer she called home. Two women were there to tell her about a federally funded preschool program called Head Start that was opening near her home in Chugiak.
Which is why it was so wrenching when CCS Early Learning closed the Chugiak Head Start, where Bayne had sent her children. In January, it announced it was shuttering another center — this time in Meadow Lakes, where Bayne's granddaughter Makayla, who is now in her care, was enrolled.The impending closure is not for lack of need. This is the fastest-growing part of the 49th state, and the nonprofit's Head Start program has a waiting list.
Without those teachers, the preschools cannot serve as many students as they once did. It means fewer options for parents who want to return to work but cannot afford child care, and fewer early learning opportunities for children from the neediest families. In rural communities, Head Start might be the only child care center for working parents.
In Wasilla, the regional Head Start group decided to raise employee pay to keep more staff from leaving. To do that, it had to close one center. Mark Lackey, executive director of CCS Early Learning, found he was competing for employees with the service sector, which raised pay during the pandemic to lure back reluctant workers.
“He’s actually, you know, verbalizing his emotions and learning how to regulate his emotions at such a young age, which is extremely hard,” Mitchell said. That last week, there were small signs things were coming to a close. The classroom walls, still brightly decorated, were no longer draped with student art. Teachers began talking about what to do with class pets. On the final day, staff tried to keep things cheerful and celebratory, even as they struggled to maintain composure. They painted the students' hair bright colors and had a dance party.
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