Kai Ming Head Start
Kai Ming Head Start, 934 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
About
Kai Ming Head Start offers education, play, and inquiry activities where preschoolers work on speaking and listening (language), early reading, early writing, math, science, social studies, creative arts, and technology. The program also includes weekly home visits, monthly center-based socialization, health screenings, and a nutrition program through the California Child and Adult Food Program (CACFP). Families can take part in parent engagement events, policy council meetings, and educational sessions.
• Ages: 0–5 years old
• Schedule: Weekday programs with Monday–Friday hours between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, depending on center
• Price: Services are free or low cost for eligible families.
Kai Ming Head Start is a non-profit organization established in 1975. For more than four decades, its preschool program has offered culturally relevant, family-centered, and interest-based education for children ages 3 to 5. Its mission is to provide early childhood care and education that gives children the best chance of reaching their full potential in life.
The program uses a research-based curriculum that promotes learning in all developmental areas and aligns with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF) and California early care and education standards. The curriculum is drawn from current child development science, the interests and ideas of the children, family input, and the values of the community, and it fosters development in physical, social, emotional, language and literacy development, problem-solving, and cognitive skills. Kai Ming Head Start uses The Project Approach, Dual Language Learning, and The Creative Curriculum, and uses the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) and Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) each year.
Teacher-child ratios range between 1:5 to 1:8 for preschool, 1:3 for infants, and 1:4 for toddlers, and low teacher-child ratios foster quality interactions and individual attention. Teachers have the required degrees and credentials to work with young children, and the majority of lead teachers have B.A. or M.A. degrees in education with specialization in early childhood education. Each staff member has an annual professional development plan, and the language that students speak at home is reflected in staffing.
Kai Ming Head Start offers comprehensive services that support early learning, health, and family well-being, including nutritious meals and snacks, health screenings, and a multicultural menu that accommodates food allergies. Healthy, multicultural meals and snacks are offered through CACFP, and all food allergies are accommodated. The program accommodates children with special needs, developmental delays, behavioral and mental health issues.
The curriculum provides dual language learners with instruction in two or more languages and includes character education that teaches respect, kindness, truthfulness, and other social-emotional skills. The program emphasizes a home-school connection with parents as first teachers, and each center has a Family Advocate who supports family needs. Parent Committees and parent engagement events give families ways to participate in program decision-making and offer curriculum suggestions.
Kai Ming partners with different community agencies to bring resources and referrals to support children and their families. Head Start is required to partner with the Local Education Agency on serving children with disabilities through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and Kai Ming also partners with Golden Gate Resource Center (GGRC), SFUSD, SFSU Nursing Program, RAMs for mental health consultation, Magic toothbrush, and many other agencies.
Parent testimonials describe teachers who are patient, loving, and kind, clean classrooms, and weekly curriculum that is fun and creative. One parent from the Richmond Center reports daily reports about their child’s activities and hearing their child sing new songs learned at school. Another Richmond Center parent notes improvements in their child’s self-discipline, listening, following rules, eating habits, speech, and interest in “reading” books. A parent from PMsquare Children’s Center describes staff taking a caring approach with both of their children, a teacher sharing a first-day photo of an introverted child happily playing with new friends, and a nutritionist who makes sure a child with food allergies has a healthy meal made just for them.
Last updated March 19, 2026.
• Ages: 0–5 years old
• Schedule: Weekday programs with Monday–Friday hours between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, depending on center
• Price: Services are free or low cost for eligible families.
Kai Ming Head Start is a non-profit organization established in 1975. For more than four decades, its preschool program has offered culturally relevant, family-centered, and interest-based education for children ages 3 to 5. Its mission is to provide early childhood care and education that gives children the best chance of reaching their full potential in life.
The program uses a research-based curriculum that promotes learning in all developmental areas and aligns with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF) and California early care and education standards. The curriculum is drawn from current child development science, the interests and ideas of the children, family input, and the values of the community, and it fosters development in physical, social, emotional, language and literacy development, problem-solving, and cognitive skills. Kai Ming Head Start uses The Project Approach, Dual Language Learning, and The Creative Curriculum, and uses the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) and Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) each year.
Teacher-child ratios range between 1:5 to 1:8 for preschool, 1:3 for infants, and 1:4 for toddlers, and low teacher-child ratios foster quality interactions and individual attention. Teachers have the required degrees and credentials to work with young children, and the majority of lead teachers have B.A. or M.A. degrees in education with specialization in early childhood education. Each staff member has an annual professional development plan, and the language that students speak at home is reflected in staffing.
Kai Ming Head Start offers comprehensive services that support early learning, health, and family well-being, including nutritious meals and snacks, health screenings, and a multicultural menu that accommodates food allergies. Healthy, multicultural meals and snacks are offered through CACFP, and all food allergies are accommodated. The program accommodates children with special needs, developmental delays, behavioral and mental health issues.
The curriculum provides dual language learners with instruction in two or more languages and includes character education that teaches respect, kindness, truthfulness, and other social-emotional skills. The program emphasizes a home-school connection with parents as first teachers, and each center has a Family Advocate who supports family needs. Parent Committees and parent engagement events give families ways to participate in program decision-making and offer curriculum suggestions.
Kai Ming partners with different community agencies to bring resources and referrals to support children and their families. Head Start is required to partner with the Local Education Agency on serving children with disabilities through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and Kai Ming also partners with Golden Gate Resource Center (GGRC), SFUSD, SFSU Nursing Program, RAMs for mental health consultation, Magic toothbrush, and many other agencies.
Parent testimonials describe teachers who are patient, loving, and kind, clean classrooms, and weekly curriculum that is fun and creative. One parent from the Richmond Center reports daily reports about their child’s activities and hearing their child sing new songs learned at school. Another Richmond Center parent notes improvements in their child’s self-discipline, listening, following rules, eating habits, speech, and interest in “reading” books. A parent from PMsquare Children’s Center describes staff taking a caring approach with both of their children, a teacher sharing a first-day photo of an introverted child happily playing with new friends, and a nutritionist who makes sure a child with food allergies has a healthy meal made just for them.
Last updated March 19, 2026.
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