About Us
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Pre-Kindergarten Services
We set high standards in all of our classrooms. In our classrooms we provide a learning environment that supports children’s growth and development, which includes:
Language and literacy
Cognition and general knowledge
Physical development and health
Social and emotional development
Approaches to learning
OPK emphasizes the role of parents as their child’s first and most important teacher and builds relationships with families to support:
Family well-being and positive parent-child relationships
Families as learners and lifelong educators
Family engagement in transitions
Family connections to peers and community
Families as advocates and leaders
All services are designed to be responsive to each child and family’s ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage. NCESD is proud to partner with Head Start an Preschool Promise to have these services available in Sherman, Gilliam and Wheeler Counties.
The North Central ESD secures grants from Preschool Promise and Head Start to fund local preschools. The funds are used to:
Pay teacher wages
Provide training
Curriculum
Classroom supplies/resources
Please be advised that if your student is not enrolled in HeadStart or Preschool Promise, you may be liable for paying tuition at some sites.
Head Start/OPK
What is Head Start & Oregon Pre-Kindergarten?
Head Start is a federal program that promotes school readiness of young children from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social and emotional development. Oregon modeled Oregon Pre-kindergarten (OPK) after Head Start to expand high-quality early learning opportunities for the lowest income and highest need preschool children.
OPK is free to families from the period of prenatal to five years old and not yet eligible for kindergarten, and who meet income or other eligibility qualifications. Program services include:
Preschool education and early childhood development
Child health/mental health and nutrition
Parent education and family support
What to expect if your child is enrolled in Head Start.
2 Home Visits with your child's teacher
2 conferences with your child's teacher
Early Intervention screenings for speech, hearing, vision, height & weight
Please note these are also freely available to students not enrolled in the grant program or you may opt out
Access to parent education resources
For more information about Head Start, visit the Head Start and the Oregon Head Start Association websites.
Preschool Promise
What is Preschool Promise?
Preschool Promise (PSP) is a free, high-quality preschool program available to Oregon families who are living at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level in Oregon. The program serves children ages 3-5.
PSP expands access to culturally responsive early care and education (ECE) programs. By establishing an inclusive, welcoming environment for all families, PSP may engage parents as partners in their child’s learning and development. Preschool Promise is currently the only public early learning program in Oregon in which all materials are offered in English and Spanish, at a minimum. Several Preschool Promise programs are culturally specific and/or multi-lingual.
What to expect if your child is enrolled in Preschool Promise.
3 conferences with your child's teacher annually
Early Intervention screenings for speech, hearing, vision, height & weight
Please note these are also freely available to students not enrolled in the grant program or you may opt out
Access to parent education resources
Parent's Forms
North Central ESD Early Education Policy and Program By Laws
North Central ESD Early Education Policy Council is here to assist and support local community preschools in serving the families in their community to meet or exceed Head Start Performance Standards.
Link Library
Four Rivers Early Learning Hub
4RELH works across the five sectors of early learning, health, human services, K-12 education, and private sector partners to ensure positive family outcomes.
Working Together To Give All Children An Equitable Start
Across Gilliam, Hood River, Sherman, Wasco and Wheeler Counties, where children thrive in stable and attached families, enter kindergarten ready to engage in meaningful learning and live in communities where people work together with intention and purpose.
Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC)
Office of Head Start (OHS) provides grant funding and oversight to the programs that provide Head Start services in communities across the country. This site contains resources for Parents, Providers and Educators, and Administration.
National Association for the Education of Young Children
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research.
Oregon Department of Education Early Learning Division
Information from the Oregon Department of Education for Parents, Providers and Educators, and Administration including:
Early Learning Council
Early Head Start
Head Start & Oregon Pre-K
Healthy Families Oregon
Preschool Promise
Relief Nurseries
Special Populations
VroomNorth Central Public Health District
North Central Public Health District is the only three-county local health department in Oregon serving Wasco, Sherman, & Gilliam Counties, all located in the Columbia Gorge region.