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Head Start

Deborah Hertzfeld-Miller Supervisor
610-383-6800

Head Start provides developmentally appropriate early childhood services to children aged three to five years old. Children receive free medical and dental screenings and nutritious meals and snacks. Head Start provides children with activities that help them grow mentally, socially, emotionally and physically. Over 446 children participate in the program each year at nine different centers located in Coatesville, Downingtown, Jennersville, Kennett Square, Oxford, Phoenixville, Pottstown and West Chester. Classes are half-day, Monday-Thursday. Federal funds are provided by the Department of Health and Human Services. Head Start is a federally-funded preschool program for children from low-income families.

Health/Language Arts Workshops

Rina F. Vassallo, Ed.D., Director, Teaching and Learning
484-237-5054

This is a statewide program that works with schools to help impact the quality of health education at the elementary level. It is accomplished through a professional development series that integrates health education with children’s literature.

Hearing Impaired Communication Classroom - Preschool Special Education

Ann Henry, Supervisor, Special Education
484-237-5131

The preschool classroom for children who are hearing impaired provides learning experiences in a language-rich environment for children, three to five years of age. Programming is provided for eligible children as determined by the IEP team. Districts may choose to offer preschool special education services to children during their kindergarten year if appropriate.

The primary goal of the program is to improve communication skills through spoken language and listening. Sign language support may be used as a bridge to oral language.

Program Features

Individual assessment and educational planning
Learning outcomes based on the child’s needs
Assistive technology
Family service plan provided at parent’s request
Parent training

The instructional program includes:

Readiness skills
Sign language support (as needed)
Auditory skills
Social skills
Communication skills
Language skills

Related services provided in the program include:

Speech and language therapy
Occupational and physical therapy

Health and support services provided in the basic program include:

Psychological assessment and consultative services
Service coordination
Psychiatric consultation

Hearing Impaired Support Program - Itinerant

Vince McVeigh
Supervisor, Special Education
484-237-5013

The Itinerant Hearing Impaired Support program provides specialized services and instruction for students, ages five through 21, whose skills allow them to function in a regular school setting. The level of intervention is determined by student need.

Teachers of the hearing impaired provide classroom teachers with strategies for working with hearing impaired students. Auditory training units are provided to students as appropriate. Loaner hearing aids are provided when personal aids are not working. Audiological services are provided as a related service.

Home and Community Services

Catherine Scanlon, Supervisor
484-237-5192

Home and Community Services provides behavioral and mental health rehabilitation services (wraparound) to children and their families. Wraparound services offer an alternative to more restrictive intervention, such as an out-of-home placement.

The primary goal of this program is to provide school districts and agencies with an integrated and coordinated approach to serving at-risk children that allows students to remain in the least-restrictive, academic setting as possible.

Program Features:

Therapeutic Support Staff (TSS)/Behavioral Health Personal Care Assistant (BHPCA)
Consolidation and coordination of services
Ongoing supervision
Group intervention and support services
Cost efficiency
Mobile therapists and behavior specialist consultants

Homeless Children's Initiative

Terry Mullineaux, Supervisor
484-237-5401

The Homeless Children's Initiative works with school districts, social service agencies, and Chester County shelters to identify and support the needs of homeless children through the Pennsylvania Department of Education and in accordance with the McKinney-Vento Act. McKinney-Vento provides that homeless children have access to the same free and appropriate education as other children and youth. The objectives of the initiative are:

To eliminate barriers, including enrollment, record transfer, and transportation
To create sensitivity to homeless childrens' needs, and to promote an awareness of their educational rights within the school setting
To coordinate services with community agencies and shelters to refer homeless children for support services, such as: mental health services, drug and alcohol programs, food pantries, housing initiatives, churches and community-based groups.

To provide an accurate count of school-age homeless youth

Hosted Services

Larry Konig, Metropolitan Area Network Manager
484-237-5003

Hosted Services provides a combination of traditional IT services over the Internet or other wide area networks (WANs). These include application and Web site hosting; infrastructure, applications, and security monitoring; e-mail; and, off-site data storage. Customers can consolidate their IT needs with Hosted Services for a predictable recurring fee. Hosted Services is able to keep costs low through the delivery of the same software and service to many customers at once. Customers are charged on a subscription basis.