Rural South Texas counties to receive school readiness and family support services.

May 17, 2012 - PRLog -- AVANCE–San Antonio, has been awarded a five year $8,189,470.00 grant from the Office of Head Start, within the Administration of Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to provide Head Start and Early Head Start services in Uvalde, Zavala, Edwards, Kinney and Real counties.

On May 7th, 2012 AVANCE-San Antonio was one of several entities notified that it had been selected as the Head Start/Early Head Start Replacement Grantee for what is commonly referred to as, the Wintergarten Head Start Service Area, and will provide direct family support and educational school readiness services to 612 Head Start and 68 Early Head Start eligible children and their families in a center and home-based option setting.  AVANCE-San Antonio plans to engage an array of community agencies and local Independent School Districts to ensure high quality family and child development educational services that promote school readiness.

“For AVANCE-SAN Antonio this is a wonderful opportunity to further our outreach into five rural communities and test the success of AVANCE’s proven model. We are thrilled to work with more families and help prepare their children to become school-ready. We help parents understand that they are their child’s first teacher, and their home is the first classroom. We teach AVANCE parents how to be their children’s advocates and support their academic goals,” said Rebecca Cervantez, Executive Director of AVANCE-San Antonio.

The need for Head Start services in the Wintergarden Service Area is high. Combined, the five county areas have a population in excess of 46,000 residents, with 3,696 being children under the age of five years old. The poverty rate in the two most densely populated counties range from 24% (Uvalde County) to 35% (Zavala County). Overall 43% of the children under the age of five are living in poverty, with 37% of households being single parent households and 20% of the adult population having attained less than a 9th grade education.

“Another well-deserving community is going to receive vital early childhood services, and that’s what AVANCE’s work is all about, preparing the children to be school ready. Because of our alignment with the goals of The Office of Head Start we can comfortably apply the AVANCE model and mission within this new found capacity. AVANCE and Head Start are natural partners,” concluded, Dr. Glendelia M. Zavala, AVANCE’s Chief Program Officer.

AVANCE-San Antonio receives this Head Start grant following their recent win of the highly esteemed and competitive H-E-B Excellence in Education Early Childhood Award due to their passion and historical success in offering quality early childhood education and care. The HEB award includes a $25,000 grant that AVANCE-San Antonio can apply towards their existing early learning programs.

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40th Anniversary Celebration: AVANCE will celebrate 40 years of serving families in 2013. Details surrounding AVANCE’s anniversary events and its 1st Annual Parent-Child Education Conference are forthcoming. For more information, sponsorship, and exhibit opportunities please contact mjohnson.nat@avance.org.

AVANCE (ah-vahn-ceh) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to Unlocking America’s Potential by strengthening families in at-risk communities through effective parent education and support programs. Connect with AVANCE on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Head Start is a federal program that promotes school readiness of children zero to five years of age from low-income families by enhancing their physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development. Many Head Start programs also provide Early Head Start, which serves infants, toddlers, pregnant women and their families who have incomes below the federal poverty level.

The Office of Head Start is responsible for oversight of the grant to ensure the performance standards are met and the best quality care is provided to the enrolled children.