Beaver County Head Start/Early Head Start Hosted Annual Registration Event

On March 22^nd 2023, Beaver County Head Start/Early Head Start hosted our annual Registration Day event, this was the 1^st time we were able to have it in-person; a virtual option for those that could not attend in-person was also offered via Facebook Live. This event was open to families with children birth – 5 years old and provided the opportunity for families to apply for the Head Start/Early Head Start Program. Families came and enjoyed refreshments, and children engaged in activities such as making slime, bracelets, and listening to stories. Families enjoyed getting hands on experience with some of our digital activities like playing with sand at the illumination station which projected light and images into the sand, dragging and dropping facial features on potato heads on smart boards, and engaging in activities on HATCH tables, which offer a wide variety of touch screen games.

Hosted in 3 different locations, 144 individuals of all ages, from all over the county, attended. During their time, families got the chance to tour the classrooms, meet the instructors, and learn more about the program. Not only that, but parents watched their children come out of their shell quickly. Often children came in shy, and clinging to their parents, but an hour later were begging not to leave! After completing the application, parents were seen sitting back, sipping on a juice box and watching their child thrive in our classroom environment.

This event achieved a milestone with our program, as it was the most applications we have ever received in a single day. The Aliquippa Elementary site had a total of 35 attendees and 21 applications completed. New Brighton Middle site also had 21 applications completed and 38 total attendees. By far, the most successful site, the main office at the Beaver Valley Mall, which offered the opportunity to tour the STEM room, had 71 attendees and 35 applications. This makes our total of applications 89 from the day of the event! In addition to recruiting children into the program, staff also used this as an opportunity to collect info of any parents who were interested in a job with PIC! From this, staff received 25 individuals who were interested in applying for a job as well.

Overall, this event was a phenomenal success. Not only did it help us begin to build our rosters for the 2023-2024 program year, but also provided us with several leads for new teaching staff. Events such as this give our program hope to open more classrooms, and be a bigger presence in our community.