National Head Start Association

Monitoring Task Force Discussion Draft Webinar- Your Participation Needed!

NHSA's Monitoring Task Force has been working hard for the past three months to identify needed reforms in the Head Start Monitoring system. We have a discussion draft of recommended reforms that will be submitted to senior staff at the Administration for Children and Families and would like to hear your thoughts about it!

Join the Monitoring Task Force Co-Chairs Blair Hyatt and Vanessa Rich and NHSA Leadership on Wednesday July 18th at 1 PM EDT to provide your input on the draft report. We will walk through the suggestions put forth by the Task Force, answer your questions, and hear your suggestions to improve the current monitoring system.

More details on the Discussion Draft will be sent to you by Tuesday 7/17/2012 after you register for the webinar.

Click here to register!

If you have any questions about the Task Force prior to the webinar, please feel free to contact Emmalie Dropkin. Please direct all questions about the webinar itself to webinars@nhsa.org.

Request for Input: Collaboration in Home Visiting Programs

NHSA and national leadership from the nine evidence-based home visiting models (Child First, Early Head Start, Early Intervention Program, Family Check-up, Healthy Steps, Healthy Families America, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), Nurse Family Partnership, and Parents as Teachers) are discussing ways to collaborate to better serve families through home visiting programs. An important part of our work is to understand existing examples of successful collaboration among multiple models (for example Early Head Start programs that contract with Parents As Teachers to provide services).

If your program or agency has a history of successful collaborations (for example, joint service planning, providing extended services to a family, sharing intake sources, system development/collaboration), please let us know! Send us your program name, which models you collaborate with, and a brief description of the collaboration to Emmalie Dropkin (edropkin@nhsa.org) by July 27, 2012.

Please contact Emmalie or Tommy Sheridan (tsheridan@nhsa.org) with any questions! Your experience collaborating with other models at the local level will be invaluable as we develop collaborative systems at the state and national levels. Thank you!

NHSA Disaster Relief Fund

During the past year, NHSA has provided more than $51,000 to member programs and their staff and families affected by floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. For more information and to find out how to apply, click here.

Family Service and Parent Engagement Coordinators!

The August NHSA Family Connections newsletter is ready to print. Developing health independence is what the "terrible two's" are all about. This issue’s focus is on each toddler's need to develop new skills, feel successful, and gain confidence in new abilities. It also addresses how parents can not only "survive" the twos but help their child develop control and healthy independence. Family Connections is produced by PreSchoolFirst and is an exclusive benefit for NHSA Program Members.

To access, go to NHSA’s Family Service Resource Center.

Three Open Positions at NHSA

NHSA is seeking talented and engaged individuals to become members of the Executive, Advocacy, Communications and Marketing teams. Pass them on to anyone qualified you know who may be interested!

• Advocacy/Communications Associate
  
• Program Associate
• Web/Social Media/Marketing Associate
  

NHSA's Fall Leadership Institute: Early Learning at a Crossroads

• Special content for new Head Start directors;
  
• Pre-Conference sessions (September 17-18) on CLASS and accountability in an era of risk;
  
• Updates from thought leaders on the latest trends in Early Childhood Education and how they might affect Head Start;
  
• Head Start on the Hill - a day of Capitol Hill visits;
  
• Evening special events.
  

TRAINING: Wipfli Webinars

Wipfli and NHSA have teamed up to offer excellent webinars this Summer!

Webinar cost: $125 (NHSA Member), $145 (Non-Member);

To receive member rates, use the code NHSA125.

• Tuesday, July 24, 2012, EHS/HS Audit and Review Findings
  Presented by Denes L. Tobie, CPA
  Register
  
  
• Tuesday, August 21, 2012, Keeping Employees Engaged in Challenging Times
  Presented by Debra Pagel
  Register

ON-DEMAND WEBINARS: On Sale Now!

As your program prepares for the next school year, ensure your staff is trained on the most recent changes in Head Start. Browse our comprehensive on-demand library today! Check out headstart.peachnewmedia.com for a listing of currently available topics.

Right now, you can get $100 off all of our on-demand training webinars. Each webinar is 2 hours long and can be watched an unlimited number of times, for 30 days. Our on-demand webinars are regularly $250 for NHSA members and $275 for non-members. Now they are only $150 for NHSA members and $175 for non-members! Our on-demand webinar topic areas (with numerous webinars in each area) include:

• Grants Issues
  
• Head Start Eligibility
•  Human Resources
  
• Governance
  
• Head Start Monitoring
•  Compliance, Investigations, and Audits
  
• And More!
  

Upcoming NHSA Events and Professional Development Opportunities

Fall 2012 Leadership Institute
September 19-21, 2012
Omni Shoreham
Washington, D.C.

October is Head Start Awareness Month
Join NHSA in a month-long celebration of Head Start’s 47th year of
providing a window of opportunity for our most vulnerable children.

29th Annual Head Start Parent Conference and Family Engagement Institutes
December 1 – 5, 2012
Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center
Dallas, Texas 

2013 Winter Leadership Institute
January 28 - February 1, 2013
Washington, D.C.

40th Annual Head Start Conference
April 28 – May 3, 2013
Gaylord National
Washington, D.C.

Educators Voice Award Honorees are Head Start Leaders!

Educators Voice Awards, organized by BAM Radio Network and presented annually by the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences International recognize excellence throughout the education field. Recipients are peer-selected through a vote by members of the education community across America. Congratulations to Dorothy Cole-Gary and Debra Palmer, Head Start Educators Voice Award honorees for 2012! Each will submitted as a candidate for a Bammy Award, to be presented by the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences International at a gala event in Washington D.C. on September 15, 2012.

• Dorothy Cole-Gary is currently Senior Director of Operations for Children’s Services for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. Dorothy is considered a pioneer and visionary as she continues to exemplify leadership to staff and provide quality services for children and families served within 12 of Chicago's demographic areas. She was awarded the 2012 NHSA Administrator of the Year Award.
  
  
• Debra Palmer is Family Service and Community Partnership Coordinator for Waldo County Head Start and Early Head Start in Belfast, Maine. Debra became involved in Head Start as a Head Start Parent, and has since driven a Head Start Bus, been an Assistant Teacher, Teacher, and Family Service Advocate. Debra is acknowledged throughout Maine for her commitment to building family stability and parent engagement and advocacy.

Summer Institute on the Project Approach

Join Lilian Katz and Sallee Beneke for a 3-day summer institute July 22-24 on the Project Approach. Participants will learn about the Project Approach through first-hand experience and by observing the Project Approach in action with children ages 2- to 5-years-old. Experience observational drawing and learn about best practices in documenting children’s learning. Discover how implementing the Project Approach can support teacher-child interactions, such as those evaluated by CLASS. Hear Lilian and Sallee’s thoughts on their experiences in Reggio Emilia and consider the implications for U.S. educators.

The Summer Institute fees include all meals and snacks, housing (single or double room), and a binder of materials. The cost is $500 per participant for those who will share a double room and $520 for those who desire a single.

Register online or email BenekeSalleeJ@sau.edu to request a registration form.

Hispanic-Latino Families and Digital Technologies Forum

The National Center for Family Literacy, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and the National Council of La Raza convened the Hispanic-Latino Families and Digital Technologies Forum on June 8, 2012. At the Web site you can check out full-length videos of Forum presentations and panels, the insightful background and vision papers produced in preparation for the Forum, and the agenda for the event.

Refer Your Friends - Win Prizes!

Exchange Magazine wants to boost daily readership of ExchangeEveryDay to over 100,000 subscribers and is holding a contest to reach their goal. Use the Referral Form to invite your friends to subscribe (for free, of course) to ExchangeEveryDay (EED). On July 27, when the contest ends, they will award the following prizes to those individuals who generate the most subscriptions:

• 4 Grand Prizes: Your choice — a complete set of PDF versions of all 73 Out of the Box Training Kits... OR, a complete set of PDF versions of all 105 Beginnings Workshop Units.
  
  
• 40 Honorable Mention Prizes: $100 gift certificate toward Exchange digital (downloadable PDF) products. Remember: Invitees must subscribe using the link provided in their email invitation to count toward your total, so be sure to contact the people you refer and encourage them to respond to the subscription invitation. You can submit the Referral Form with new email addresses as many times as you wish prior to July 27, 2012.