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Head Start and Early Head Start services are open and currently enrolling.
Center and home-based options are available.
We’re Hiring!
Rewarding career with health benefits, paid time off, paid holidays, 401K, and more!
2022-2023 Program Year Updates
Learn more about what’s coming in the year ahead including COVID-19 protocols and temporary school closures.
SOUTHERN OREGON HEAD START
Southern Oregon Head Start offers free preschool and childcare to qualifying families. Since 1967, we have been dedicated to educating, empowering, and enriching the lives of local children and families. Our services include free early childhood education, family support, health, nutrition, disabilities and mental health services. We operate 27 centers in Josephine and Jackson counties.
OUR PROGRAMS
ABOUT HEAD START
Head Start is the nation’s largest early childhood education program. In Southern Oregon, our mission is for children to enter school healthy, ready to learn, and with age-appropriate skills. We support family well-being and nurturing relationships between children and parents, and encourage lifelong learning for everyone in the family.
VOLUNTEER
Do you love playing with children? Telling stories? Singing songs? We’re always looking for kind, loving, and patient volunteers to help in classrooms. We also greatly appreciate administrative help, field trip assistance, classroom prep, and more..
DONATIONS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Today, your donation is needed more than ever. Funds from our federal grant scarcely meet the basic needs of our Head Start programs. By supporting our programs – Head Start, Early Head Start, The Family Connection, and LISTO – you’re investing in the future of our community and economy. You can make a difference, and give children and families a head start toward success in school and throughout their lives!
Heidi
“I am proud to be a part of the Head Start family. Because of Head Start, I have been able to see what the staff saw in me long before I even knew I could do it. The staff is awesome and helps with whatever they can. Head Start will always be a big part of my heart and my life.”
Ana
“When Stephanie started school I had no part in her life at school. Now with what I am learning at Listo, I know what I can do at home to add to my children’s education at school. I am more involved. Stephanie tells me how glad she is that everyone in the family is attending school!”
Bob
“Daylen couldn’t talk until he was three. He really needed the social interaction that EHS provided. He improved year after year. Now in Head Start he is talking a lot and learning a lot.”
Jodi
“The Head Start staff showered me with support and encouragement.”
Andrea
“My children love to come to Listo! When there are no classes they all beg to come. My children feel safe here and they love to be at Listo with their friends.”
Jarod
“My involvement with Head Start continues to catapult me to success as it gave me the edge to be awarded the Oregon Community College Association ‘Outstanding Student Scholar’.”
Lyn
“The staff members have helped me raise two very loving, emotionally strong kids. They have given my kids the words to use when they are angry, sad, mad, or happy. They have helped my children to grow independent and to speak up for themselves.”
Kristal
“In the future I want to work for EHS because I want to be able to touch someone’s life the way they have touched mine.”
Jewel
“I think it’s sad in this country that we put such emphasis on education but we aren’t funding it the way we need to for everybody to get a good education. I wish they had Head Start available for everyone.”
Leberly
“Companionship with the staff is one very important thing. They really care about my family.”
LISTO parent
“I have a dream, that one day my child could go to college.”
Crystal
“I’ve seen drastic changes in my daughter. When she came to Head Start she wouldn’t talk, she didn’t have social skills, and it seems so much has changed in that little girl.”
Annalise
“I really have appreciated the extra help that Early Head Start has provided to our family.”
Vegi
“It’s helped improve his language skills and his sharing skills. Head Start is a great program.”
Jason
“I’m just really impressed with the Head Start program.”
Kari
“It’s not just for children, it’s for families, too.”
Sabena
“Without Head Start, we wouldn’t be able to raise the family we’re raising today.”
Samantha
“The help that Head Start provided my family was crucial to my development and to my mother’s ability to care for our family so wonderfully during my early years.”
Leonel
“I like the Listo program because it helps the Latino community. I have the chance to bring my children here with me while I study. We can learn English and we work on laptops to get computer skills. Our kids are learning reading and writing while we learn English to improve our communication for work.”
Bob
“So many wonderful people at EHS have helped my children learn to trust other people.”
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Head Start Awareness-Hear From One of Our Parents
Importance of Head Start Southern Oregon Head Start (SOHS) prepares children and their families for success in school and throughout life. At SOHS we help children develop social and emotional well-being and academic skills while also assisting parents with the...
The Listo Family Literacy Program: Changing lives in the Latinx Community
"Are you Listo to learn?!" Listo means "ready" in Spanish, and here in Southern Oregon Head Start we take that phrase to a whole new level. LISTO Family Literacy is a program of SOHS that provides culturally specific learning opportunities for Latinx families in...
Calling All Raiders: SOU Career and Internship Fair is March 20th!
Calling all Raiders! We will be at the SOU Career and Internship Fair tomorrow afternoon (4/20/22). Stop by our table at Stevenson Union for more information on how you can make a difference by joining the Head Start team! We will be there from 11-3 giving away fun...
QUICK FACTS
- National Head Start organization initiated in 1965
- Southern Oregon Head Start was founded in 1967
- We serve over 1200 children daily
- We operate 27 sites and 2 home-based programs
- We support a Spanish Family Literacy Program
- We offer Free Parenting Education Classes & Resources
Lady Bird Johnson attends the ceremony for National Head Start Day, June 30, 1965.
JOIN OUR TEAM
Every employee at SOHS is passionate about creating opportunities for young children to learn and grow. We believe that every child can succeed with the right tools and support, and are committed to ensuring that children leave our Head Start programs ready for learning in kindergarten and beyond. We offer competitive benefits and a rewarding career environment.
OUR LOCATIONS
Are you ready to take the next step? We have 27 Head Start and Early Head Start centers throughout Jackson and Josephine counties. Check out our locations — complete with virtual tours — and enroll your child today!