Guadalupe Head Start, operated by El Centro Hispano, promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to 5 by enhancing their cognitive, social and emotional development. The program provides a learning environment that supports children’s growth in language and literacy, cognition and general knowledge, physical development and health, social and emotional development, and approaches to learning.  It also provides comprehensive services to enrolled children and their families, which include health, nutrition, social services and other services determined to be necessary by family needs assessments. Head Start services are designed to be responsive to each child and family’s ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage.  Head Start emphasizes the role of parents as their child’s first and most important teacher. The program also strives to build relationships with families that support family well-being and positive parent-child relationships, families as learners and lifelong educators, family engagement in transition, family connections to peers and community, and families as advocates and leaders.