Future up in the air for Coldwater Head Start

CELINA - As officials at Coldwater Village Schools look over their classroom space ahead of the next school year, staff at the county's Head Start program aren't sure if the review's result will include a place for them.

Director of Mercer County Head Start Amy Esser said she learned of the possible changes several weeks ago in a meeting with Superintendent Doug Mader.

"Basically what I was told was that there may not be space available where our classroom currently is in in that building at the school district, that he wasn't sure yet, and that he would get back to me in the next couple of weeks," she said. "As a result of that, because we've had a classroom down there for the last couple of years, we have very active parents. It's a very strong classroom. Part of Head Start is that we keep our parents informed through our policy council and our parent committees. And so, I let the parents at Coldwater know, 'Hey, this could be a possibility.'"

Armed with the knowledge that their children may not have access to the program next year, several Head Start parents from the Coldwater classroom attended the district's board of education meeting on April 7 to share their worries and express how vital the classroom is to their children's education.

"The parents collectively decided, they were going to go and talk at the school board, they were going to write letters to school board members and the superintendent," Esser said. "We provide that guidance for them, because one of Head Start's goals is to prepare our parents to have a voice for their children and how to advocate. But advocate in a way that decision makers listen, and they did that. And so I'm very proud of them for what they did."

Mercer County Head Start has a maximum enrollment of 158 students and 30 staff members. It serves 102 families from throughout Mercer County, which involves 16 students in their Coldwater classroom and the rest in Celina.

Mader told The Daily Standard on Friday that the school administration is "in the process of allocating classroom space for grades K-12, as well as preschool units."

"At the same time, we are developing a vision for an innovation center that would serve Coldwater students," he added. "I have requested data from Head Start regarding the number of students they serve and served last year and how many have transitioned into Coldwater's kindergarten program, but I have not yet received a response."

Esser said Mader's request came following last week's board of education meeting.

Should Coldwater officials decide they do not have space for Head Start, Esser said they would have to either find another location in Coldwater or open another classroom in Celina.

"But one of the things with Head Start, we have to complete a community needs assessment and our community needs assessment says that there are Head Start eligible children in that community," she said. "That was one of the pluses of being able to have a classroom right there at the school. When your community needs assessment tells you that this is something that is needed for the community, and then to have to possibly relocate- we're then not meeting that need where we should be doing what we can. The best case scenario would be for us to stay there at the Coldwater School or in that area."

She added that Coldwater's classroom was one of four classrooms in the country that was recently chosen for a virtual "Cabinet of Wonder" experience live-streamed to teachers and students across the nation last week.

"It's a high performing classroom with a fabulous teaching staff and very active parents and kids who are moving forward," Esser said. "I believe that our data, when presented to decision makers in that school district, may help them see the program a little bit differently and maybe they'll do some more problem solving. Maybe we can partner in doing some of that problem solving so that we're able to stay there and provide these services to that community."