Cook Inlet Native Head Start
Our Mission:
Building Strong Foundations with Alaska Native Families through Alaska Native Cultures and Education
Our Vision:
Strong Native Children and Their Families Reaching Their Full Potential
Our program goals in working with our community are:
- Establish a supportive learning environment for children, parents,
and staff. Value & promote the building of awareness, skills, &
understanding.
- Recognize that the members of the Head Start community - children,
families, & staff - have roots in many cultures. Work as a team and
effectively promote respectful and proactive approaches to diversity.
- Families are empowered when families, governing bodies, & staff
share the responsibility of program governance. Hear and respect the
ideas and opinions of families.
- Embrace a comprehensive vision of health for children, families,
& staff. Assure that basic health needs are met, encourage
preventive health practices, and promote behaviors that enhance
life-long well being.
- Respect the importance of all aspects of individual development, including social, emotional, cognitive, & physical growth.
- Build a community in which each child & adult is respected as an individual while still belonging to the group.
- Foster relationships with the larger community to build a network of partners that respects families and staff.
- Develop a continuum of care, education and services that allows stable, uninterrupted support to children & families before, during & after their Head Start experience.
(Source: Head Start Performance Standards; 45CFR, Introduction, pg 1)
About Our School:
At Cook Inlet Native Head Start (CINHS), we use "The Way We See" curriculum. "The Way We See" curriculum is a systematic guide of planned activities designed to build experiences, skills, and attitudes that prepare each child for kindergarten. The Curriculum is researched-Based*. rubric driven, observation assessed, and draws upon learning and child development principles that are delivered through the utilization and focus upon Alaska Native values and cultural enrichment.** The curriculum is administered in a child-centered environment which is play-based and stressed the development of social, emotional, motor, physical, and cognitive skills.
* Research Sources: Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five; the Alaskan State Early Learning Guides; and National "Best Practices" research studies on early childhood learning with a focus on pre-kindergarten learning: social/emotional development, language development, cognitive development, and motor and physical development.
** Values and Cultural Sources: Alaska Native Values for Curriculum; Alaska Native Seasonal Cycles: A Cultural Curriculum Framework; and early childhood learning and education research on Alaska Natives and American Indians.
CINHS Board of Directors:
President/Chairman
Jon Ross
Vice President
Nicole Sheldon
Secretary
Gregory P. Razo
Treasurer
Gregory Encelewski
Directors
James Sears
Dr. Angela Michaud
Susan Anderson
CINHS Policy Council:
Chairperson
Cassidy Balluta
Vice Chair
Brandi Franzen
Secretary/Community Member
Randi Francis
Parent Representatives
Mellissia Bergman
Jessica Kuzakin
Community Representative
Tessie Chilton