Services to Underserved Communities

Centro is a committed agent of change, providing high-quality preschool education to children from low-income families and ensuring access to health, social, and nutritional services. These services give children a head start that increases their chance of graduating from high school and pursuing higher education.

Health Services

Centro’s commitment to wellness embraces a comprehensive vision of health for children, families, and staff. Services ensure that all child health and developmental concerns are identified through the collaboration with families, staff, and health professionals. Children and families are connected to ongoing sources for continuous, accessible care within their communities that meet their basic health needs.

Available Services

• Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
• Assistance for families to locate local health services
• Speech, developmental, vision and hearing screenings
• Mental health services and referrals
• Services to children with special needs

Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)

With Head Start programs, Centro utilizes the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) that provide children at each Centro location, each day, a minimum of one-third of the child’s daily nutritional needs. All meals are well-balanced and based on researched nutrition guidelines ensuring that the children receive nutritious foods during this crucial period in their development.

Health Services

Health Literacy Program

In 2017 Centro partnered with the UCLA Health Institute to implement a health literacy program. The program provides health literacy classes and guides for families. The curriculum teaches parents valuable skills such as when and how to treat basic ailments at home, when to seek medical attention, and when to seek emergency medical attention.

Social Services

Centro builds upon family strengths and supports families in the challenges they face, through regular home visits and referral services. As needs are identified, family goals are created to facilitate the steps necessary to overcome challenges, reinforce family strengths, and connect each family with valuable resources available in their communities.

Agency-Wide Referral Services

Education Services

Centro is dedicated to promoting each child’s school readiness in partnership with teachers, family service staff and most importantly, their parents.

"Your efforts to offer high-quality early childhood services to disadvantaged children is outstanding. And your love and passion for the work really shines through. With great passion and love in your hearts, you are leaders in the field of early childhood education."
- Kellie Kohler, Utah Head Start Collaboration Office Director

Centro fosters effective communication with parents through weekly educational home activities, home visits, and parent-teacher conferences. This communication facilitates an understanding of school readiness, child development, as well as goal setting for continuous progress in child outcomes.

All Head Start classrooms have a qualified teacher with a Child Development Associate (CDA) or equivalent, an Early Childhood Associates degree, or a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood or another related area, with experience in teaching preschool children or infants and toddlers.

Available services

• Developmental screenings
• Ongoing assessment of children’s development
• Research-based curriculum
• Teacher home visits
• Parent-teacher conferences
• Transitioning to Kindergarten

Education Outcomes

The success of Centro’s educational practices is evident through child outcomes measured both internally and externally. Centro regularly reviews child outcomes data in order to adapt to changing needs and have the greatest impact on each child’s development. In addition, the Office of Head Start (OHS) conducts onsite reviews using CLASS. CLASS is a research-based evaluation tool used to measure classroom interactions between children and teachers. Research has shown that classrooms who score higher in CLASS measures also demonstrate better child outcomes.

Recognizing the importance of this tool Centro maintains a team of reliable CLASS observers who conduct CLASS observations in all of our preschool classrooms. Based on the 211 observations in Centro’s 16 preschool-aged classrooms during the 2016-2017 program year, Centro is trending above the national average!

Services to Children with Special Needs

Centro continually demonstrates extraordinary dedication and ability to recruit and surpass the mandated 10% enrollment of children with special needs. Currently, close to 20% of the cumulative enrolled children have special needs. To meet the needs of these children, Centro’s disabilities and education staff works collaboratively with families to ensure all additional equipment and accommodations are made, including referral services to the local school districts.