Children playing in classroom

1965 Head Start

Head Start’s Founding: 1965

Celebrating Head Start’s 45th anniversary, CSC pays homage to both Judith H. Chase and Patricia W. Levin.

Mrs. Chase founded Head Start in the summer 1965 in Easton immediately following President Lyndon Johnson’s announcement of the new program to help disadvantaged children prepare for school. Head Start quickly became a school-year program (year round when funding was available) and involved parents as equal partners in governance.

Head Start now has 2000 programs nationwide involving about one million children ages 0-5. It remains a two-generation program with equal emphasis placed on working with parents to achieve goals that will sustain their child’s achievement throughout school.

Head Start family income cannot exceed 100% of the poverty guideline, currently about $22,000 for a family of four. Unfortunately, more children qualify in the Lehigh Valley than there is funding. Consequently, we enroll the most at-risk children. Family income averages $13,000.

Mrs. Levin became director of Head Start of the Lehigh Valley in 1972 and grew the program from a few hundred children to more than 1000. Today, more than 1200 children are enrolled in Head Start and its baby/toddler counterpart Early Head Start. We operate in 56 classrooms, about a third of which are cooperative programs with the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Northern Lehigh school districts.

Mrs. Levin’s vision aided by the Donleys and many other community supporters led to creation of the Donley Children’s Campus composed of model teaching classrooms and facilities, public children’s library, and outdoor Exploratorium. In 2011, we are planning the next phase of the vision by constructing the region’s only therapeutic center for abused babies and toddlers called SafeStart.

We estimate that since beginning in 1965, Head Start of the Lehigh Valley has served 23,000 children and families.