Head Start | It's About the Children!

Happy Birthday, Head Start! Fifty years ago on May 18, in the White House Rose Garden, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced “Project Head Start” and gave Sargent Shriver the go-ahead to enroll 100,000 children in the first Head Start programs. Just one month later, in June 1965, there were 2,700 enrolled. By the end of the summer of 1965, 560,000 Head Start children had been enrolled. In 1970, President Nixon named New Haven’s Dr. Edward Zigler as the first Director of the Office of Child Development and Chief of the U.S. Children’s Bureau. Dr. Zigler was responsible for administering the nation’s Head Start program and earned himself the distinction as “The Father of Head Start.” In the 50 years since inception, Head Start has given more than 30 million children an opportunity for success in school and in life.

On Monday, May 18, 2015, CT Head Start Association Executive Director Darlene Ragozzine and Chairperson Magdalena Rosales-Alban presented Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman with a rosebush to commemorate the golden anniversary. Wyman said the bush would be planted on the Capitol grounds or at the Governor’s Mansion. The celebration continued with “Head Start babies,” including DSS Commissioner Roderick Bremby and Rep. Bobby Sanchez, along with Head Start program director Monette Ferguson, sharing their stories and memories of Head Start and how it has shaped their lives today.