Our Vision
Our vision is children growing and thriving in a supportive, nurturing environment of parents, family, neighborhood, and community where they and their families have options and opportunities for optimum growth, development, and learning.
Our Mission
As proven leaders in early childhood education and family development, Luzerne County Head Start, Inc. is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for low-income children and families in Luzerne and Wyoming Counties. Our knowledgeable and caring staff accomplish our mission by providing early care and education for pregnant women and children from birth to five years old, emphasizing healthy outcomes and school readiness, promoting family self-sufficiency, and partnering with individuals, school districts, and our community.
Our Core Values
- Recognizing that children, families, and staff have roots in many cultures and that by working as a team we can effectively promote respectful, sensitive, and proactive approaches to diversity.
- Promoting life-long learning in supportive learning environments.
- Nurturing the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development of each child.
- Fostering community partnerships to support families and children during and after the Head Start experience.
- Valuing individuality while recognizing that children and adults develop and prosper within the context of relationships.
- Empowering families to achieve self-sufficiency by identifying their own strengths, needs, and interests while finding solutions and making positive changes.
- Implementing shared decision making as a collective responsibility of families, governing bodies, and staff where ideas and opinions are heard and respected.
- Supporting healthy behaviors that enhance wellness.
Our Core Principles
- Parents are a child’s first “teacher” and most important influence throughout their life.
- Families must be encouraged to help themselves.
- Services must be future-oriented; offering skills, knowledge, and intervention that can be expanded by the family and child after the Head Start experience ends.
- Community services must be maximized and not in any way duplicated.
- A child’s physical health must be improved or maintained for intervention to be successful.
- Patterns and expectations of success for the child must be established to create a climate of confidence for present and future learning and development.
- The sense of dignity and self-worth within the child and family must be enhanced.
- Programs should be designed to meet local needs.
- Services should be individualized and development.