Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) announced a $13,856,191 award in federal funding for the Hidalgo County Head Start Program. Head Start is a federal program that promotes school readiness for pre-school children from low-income families.
The award is expected to provide a comprehensive assistance including educational, nutritional, health, social, and special services, to upwards of 3,690 children and their families in Hidalgo County.
“The future of our nation depends on the education we provide to our children,” said Congressman Gonzalez. “Programs like Head Start help foster academic excellence at the onset and benefit families in the 15th District of Texas and across the nation. I will continue to support high-quality education programs that enable children in low-income communities to fulfill their academic potential.”
Hidalgo County Head Start Program Executive Director Teresa Flores was elated to hear of the grant funding provided by the federal government.
“We are very excited that our Non-Competitive Continuation Application for our three and four-year-old children has been approved for 2020. This funding will ensure that our comprehensive services to all 3,690 children and their families will continue uninterrupted. Under our grant we are partnering with 10 school districts (Edinburg CISD, McAllen ISD, Mission CISD, La Joya ISD, Edcouch ISD, Monte Alto ISD, Weslaco ISD, Progreso ISD, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD, and Mercedes ISD) and provide dual enrollment of our children in the program and with a school districts,” said Flores. “This arrangement ensures that the districts will provide a certified early childhood teacher for a full day or half-day assignment. Our children benefit from a highly individualized program of dual language instruction using a research-based curricula and assessment tools with the services of three educators (a Head Start teacher, a district teacher, and a Head Start assistant teacher) with 22 or fewer children in each classroom. We are very grateful to Congressman Vicente Gonzalez for his support of our program and for the forthcoming increase in funding in the near future.”
The Hidalgo County Head Start Program is dedicated to the economic and social well-being of the children and families in the Rio Grande Valley. The program provides safety, education, and healthy development through strong community support.
For more information on Hidalgo County Head Start Program, click here.
 announced a $13,856,191 award in federal funding for the Hidalgo County Head Start Program.){kind=link}