PACE HEAD START CURRENTLY ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FORSEPTEMBER
PACE Head Start is currently accepting applications for the upcoming school year which will begin in September, 2007.
Head Start provides a free family centered child development program for approximately 325 children ages 3-5 from income eligible families living in New Bedford, Dartmouth, Fairhaven and Acushnet.
Head Start children benefit from a comprehensive approach to early care and education that supports and enhances the development of both the child and the family. This approach includes a creative education curriculum, comprehensive health services, parent education, meaningful parent involvement and family support services.
Part and Full Day preschool options are available at Head Start. Children are free to explore, experiment, socialize, problem solve, master new skills and gain self-confidence while guided by qualified early childhood professionals in a classroom environment.
Head Start also offers a comprehensive home-based program. A partnership is formed between family members and a Home Visitor who utilizes various techniques to help a parent understand their child’s growth and development and provide educational activities in the home. In addition, the child attends the part or full day preschool program at the Center and parents participate in social/learning activities with teachers, other parents and the Home Visitor in their child’s classroom.
All children enrolled at PACE Head Start receive nutritious meals and snacks. Free bussing services are available to and from the school. A small fee based on family income is charged to parents whose children are enrolled in the full day option. Childcare vouchers are also accepted for full day services. Ten percent of enrollment opportunities are reserved for children with special needs.
For more information or an application, call Family Services at 508-999-1286 or 508-984-3557.
PACE OFFERS CLEMENTE COURSE IN THE HUMANITIES
Clemente Course Accepting Applications
The Clemente Course in the Humanities, sponsored by PACE, the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth is now accepting applications for the upcoming school year.
The Clemente Course in the Humanities provides tuition free, college-level instruction, for college credit, to economically disadvantaged individuals aged 17 and older. Course participants receive 110 hours of instruction in five humanistic disciplines: literature, art history, moral philosophy, American history, and writing from the University's professors.
Bard College, which oversees the program, grants a certificate of achievement to all students who finish the course and six college credits to those who complete it at a high level of academic performance
“The course is designed to provide poor citizens with a bridge to higher education, while helping them to build and recover the skills of critical self-reflection and verbal and literaryexpression essential for self-governance and full economic and political participation in a democracy,'' according to Academic Director Dr. Mark Santow who also an Assistant Professor of History at UMASS Dartmouth and teaches the American History potion of the course.
Started 10 years ago by Earl Shorris in New York City, the program is funded by The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, UMass Dartmouth and PACE of New Bedford. Clemente Courses presently exist in Holyoke and Dorchester as well as dozens of other cities around the country and has expanded to other countries. To date, approximately 2,400 students have enrolled in the courses; 1,500 students earned graduation certificates; and more than 1,000 students transferred to pursue college or university degrees. Classes will meet twice a week each Tuesday and Thursday from 6 - 8 for eight months starting the last week of September and ending in May.
The classes are offered free of charge to qualified participants and will be held at the PACE Head Start Center at 242 Smith Street in the City's west end. PACE will provide on-site childcare for participants and transportation assistance along with paying for all textbooks and supplies. Because New Bedford is one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts and has one of the lowest level of educational attainment by its' residents, the Clemente Course is one tool to help its low-income citizens achieve upward social mobility. “Educational attainment remains the surest individual path to economic self-sufficiency. By helping poor citizens get a foot in the door of higher education, the Clemente Course provides them with an opportunity to pull themselves and their families out of poverty,” Dr. Santow said.
UMASS Dartmouth's Director of Women's Studies Jeannette Riley became involved with the course because it fit her belief in providing equal opportunity for everyone. “I was drawn by the opportunity to work with people in the New Bedford area and to do something that could have a real effect on people's lives,” she said. Riley, who teaches literature, marvels at her students' ability to juggle jobs, family and economic struggles while still diligently attending classes and embracing the opportunity to learn. “The class values language and the power that language has. They have really engaged with literature and thought about how stories say something about the world we live in. And in doing so, I think they've discovered how literature can help them make sense of their experiences. The course is about helping people realize the value of the humanities and arts in their lives--and this is something that leads to lifelong learning and an increased appreciation of culture and the world around us.”
Anyone interested in enrolling in the Clemente Course in the Humanities should call PACE at 508 999-9920 and request an application or pick one up at the PACE main office at 166 William St., New Bedford. All applicants will be interviewed by Clemente Course staff.
For more information, contact Bruce Morell, Executive Director of PACE at 508 999-9920.
