Neighborhood House Association Head Start and Early Head Start
5660 Copley Dr., San Diego, CA 92111
About
Neighborhood House Association Head Start and Early Head Start offers parenting classes, weekly prenatal classes for pregnant women and their families, individualized postpartum home visits, weekly family home visits, and two monthly group socializations for families. The program includes child health services, mental health services, nutrition services, family social services, training and workshops for parents, and daily tooth brushing for enrolled children.
• Ages: 0–5 years old
• Schedule: Center-based comprehensive services for children 18 months to 3 years in a full-day, five-days-per-week setting, and center-based services for children 3 to 5 years with either full-day (6 or more hours) or part-day (3.5 hours) options
Head Start is a federally funded child development program for preschool children in low-income families that includes services to meet emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. Early Head Start began in 1994 and focuses on children six weeks to three years of age, as well as pregnant and post-partum low-income women, and children in Early Head Start receive the same set of comprehensive services as Head Start. Children with disabilities are fully included in the program, and services for children with disabilities and their families are coordinated with local early intervention and education agencies, community organizations, and school districts. Proof of citizenship is not required for enrollment in Head Start.
NHA Head Start preschool programs serve children ages 3 to 5 years using a research-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum designed to develop kindergarten readiness skills. Each child receives an individualized educational program based on their strengths and needs and is assessed three times a year to determine if they are “Kinder-ready” when they leave the program. Children take part in math, science, art, language, drama, and cultural activities in both large and small groups. The Head Start curriculum is specifically designed to build language and literacy skills, problem-solving skills, math and science exploration, and socialization and interaction skills.
Head Start provides children with one-third of their daily nutritional requirements, and all meals are served family style. Screenings cover cognitive development, speech and language development, hearing, vision, social-emotional development, and nutrition, and each family is linked to an ongoing preventive health care system. The program collaborates with dentists to provide oral exams and screenings, and follows a “No Shots, No School” policy in which all children must be fully immunized to participate, with referral assistance available for immunizations. Experiences in the program are described as promoting positive mental health, improved self-esteem, stress management, and personal growth.
At a minimum, all Head Start teachers are required to hold an appropriate Child Development Teacher Permit from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. A national standard requires that at least 50% of Head Start teachers have at least a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education or a related field, and educational degrees for Neighborhood House Association teachers exceed this mandate. NHA implements its governance, management systems, and program services to support higher school readiness outcomes, and its school readiness goals are aligned with the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework, the State of California Learning Foundations, Desired Results Development Profile (DRDP) 2010 measures, and the Creative Curriculum.
Head Start programs operate through more than 1,500 community-based organizations in all 50 states and U.S. territories, including Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Head Start staff work closely with families to advocate for needed services and resources for their children and partner with parents to support the child’s development and to empower parents to become healthy, well-adjusted, productive adults. Head Start encourages parents to take part in their child’s educational program and to join Neighborhood House Association policy-making assemblies to build skills in decision-making, group participation, and leadership. Neighborhood House Association relies on community partners and sponsors to continue its work in communities.
Head Start began in 1965 as an eight-week summer program run by the Office of Economic Opportunity. Over more than four decades, Head Start has served more than 250,000 low-income preschool children and families at more than 140 locations in San Diego County. The Neighborhood House Association was founded in 1914 as a settlement house that assisted immigrants transitioning into the San Diego community and has grown into one of the largest nonprofit social service agencies in San Diego County. The NHA portfolio of programs includes early childhood development in Head Start, a nutrition program, health programs such as HIV/AIDS case management, mental health services, Adult Day Health Care services, youth services, and senior services.
Last updated June 27, 2026.
• Ages: 0–5 years old
• Schedule: Center-based comprehensive services for children 18 months to 3 years in a full-day, five-days-per-week setting, and center-based services for children 3 to 5 years with either full-day (6 or more hours) or part-day (3.5 hours) options
Head Start is a federally funded child development program for preschool children in low-income families that includes services to meet emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. Early Head Start began in 1994 and focuses on children six weeks to three years of age, as well as pregnant and post-partum low-income women, and children in Early Head Start receive the same set of comprehensive services as Head Start. Children with disabilities are fully included in the program, and services for children with disabilities and their families are coordinated with local early intervention and education agencies, community organizations, and school districts. Proof of citizenship is not required for enrollment in Head Start.
NHA Head Start preschool programs serve children ages 3 to 5 years using a research-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum designed to develop kindergarten readiness skills. Each child receives an individualized educational program based on their strengths and needs and is assessed three times a year to determine if they are “Kinder-ready” when they leave the program. Children take part in math, science, art, language, drama, and cultural activities in both large and small groups. The Head Start curriculum is specifically designed to build language and literacy skills, problem-solving skills, math and science exploration, and socialization and interaction skills.
Head Start provides children with one-third of their daily nutritional requirements, and all meals are served family style. Screenings cover cognitive development, speech and language development, hearing, vision, social-emotional development, and nutrition, and each family is linked to an ongoing preventive health care system. The program collaborates with dentists to provide oral exams and screenings, and follows a “No Shots, No School” policy in which all children must be fully immunized to participate, with referral assistance available for immunizations. Experiences in the program are described as promoting positive mental health, improved self-esteem, stress management, and personal growth.
At a minimum, all Head Start teachers are required to hold an appropriate Child Development Teacher Permit from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. A national standard requires that at least 50% of Head Start teachers have at least a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education or a related field, and educational degrees for Neighborhood House Association teachers exceed this mandate. NHA implements its governance, management systems, and program services to support higher school readiness outcomes, and its school readiness goals are aligned with the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework, the State of California Learning Foundations, Desired Results Development Profile (DRDP) 2010 measures, and the Creative Curriculum.
Head Start programs operate through more than 1,500 community-based organizations in all 50 states and U.S. territories, including Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Head Start staff work closely with families to advocate for needed services and resources for their children and partner with parents to support the child’s development and to empower parents to become healthy, well-adjusted, productive adults. Head Start encourages parents to take part in their child’s educational program and to join Neighborhood House Association policy-making assemblies to build skills in decision-making, group participation, and leadership. Neighborhood House Association relies on community partners and sponsors to continue its work in communities.
Head Start began in 1965 as an eight-week summer program run by the Office of Economic Opportunity. Over more than four decades, Head Start has served more than 250,000 low-income preschool children and families at more than 140 locations in San Diego County. The Neighborhood House Association was founded in 1914 as a settlement house that assisted immigrants transitioning into the San Diego community and has grown into one of the largest nonprofit social service agencies in San Diego County. The NHA portfolio of programs includes early childhood development in Head Start, a nutrition program, health programs such as HIV/AIDS case management, mental health services, Adult Day Health Care services, youth services, and senior services.
Last updated June 27, 2026.
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