Second cohort of Head Start educators begin meaningful summer session

Texas A&M University-San Antonio is helping local teachers take the next step in their career through San Antonio’s elite Head Start program. Head Start is a program for early childhood education that focuses on preparing three- and four-year-olds for kindergarten. A&M-San Antonio is working closely with Head Start administrators to prepare eight current teachers to achieve the “highly qualified” status as outlined by federal guidelines, which includes completing eighteen graduate hours. 

The University welcomes its second cohort of teachers, who are starting with three graduate classes this summer before finishing with another 9 hours of graduate courses next summer.

In this, the second cohort to participate in the program, the City of San Antonio Head Start administrators, Rhonda Roach and Mica Clark-Peterek, have worked closely with Dr. Debbie Vera, Dr. Melissa Jozwiak and Dr. Vivien Geneser, faculty for early childhood education, to ensure the success of each student. The Head Start cohort also benefits from University resources, taking advantage of special trainings on research and technology from Deirdre MacDonald, the Education Librarian, and Ursula Knoch, the Education IT specialist.

Eight teachers from the San Antonio and Edgewood school districts are enrolled in this special collaborative program that offers them their own “head start” on a master’s degree as they enhance their credentials. The first cohort of Head Start teachers began in 2012, and more than half have already completed their Master of Education in Early Childhood at A&M-San Antonio.