Frequently Asked Questions

ABC Head Start Society is an Edmonton charity and Early Childhood Services (ECS) provider that was founded in 1985. Since then, ABC Head Start has grown to serve over 800 children and families each year. 

Head Start is like preschool with added support from social workers, speech language pathologists, and other clinical and educational specialists. We see PLAY as the most important part of learning. Play helps children explore and make sense of the world. Our team creates a learning plan for each child. We know every child has things that they are great at and will use their strengths to help them learn best.

You might notice there are lots of adults working in your child’s classroom. At Head Start, there are many different professionals that we call our interdisciplinary team. The team includes teachers, education assistants, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, behaviour specialists, family engagement workers, and a health team.

We know that parents are their child’s first teachers and that supporting families is as important as educating a child. For this reason, we have a family engagement team that will support your family when you need help. Family engagement workers will help you access services in your community, they hold workshops and courses to build new parenting skills, and they can even help you set goals and grow stronger as a family.

Helping families is our mission and we aim to support all members of the family to build their skills and abilities.

In Alberta age cut-offs are determined by Alberta Education. Parents or guardians will need to provide their child’s birth certificate for enrollment.

• Children who have significant developmental delays or disabilities may be eligible if they are turning 3 on or before December 31 of the upcoming school year. They will attend the Exploration program.

• Children who have mild or moderate developmental delays or disabilities and who are not yet enrolled in Kindergarten may be eligible if they are 4 or older on December 31 of the upcoming school year. They will attend the Discovery/Connections program.

• Children who do not have a developmental delay may be eligible if they are not yet enrolled in Kindergarten and are 4 or older on December 31. They will attend the Discovery/Connections program. Eligibility for these spaces is based on low-income and some spots are reserved for children who are learning English as a second language.

As a registered charity, our programs are FREE-OF-COST to families with limited financial resources. Although it costs us thousands of dollars every year to serve each child, government funding and donations from generous individuals, corporations, and foundations allow us to offer these services for free to those who most need them.

Some spaces may also be available each year on a fee-for-service basis to families who would be otherwise ineligible but could use a little extra help. When your eligibility is assessed, your intake worker will tell you if you qualify for a free space or if we can get you in on flexible entry for a small monthly fee that helps to cover program costs.

Many of our locations do not have the health and safety requirements to change diapers, such as two sinks in each classroom. We do ask that your child be potty trained before attending Head Start. We know that accidents may happen. Our teaching team will help each child to make sure they are clean and happy while at school.

If you need help with toilet training your child, please contact our Family Engagement Team by email at familyengagement@abcheadstart.org.

ABC Head Start runs half-day classes from September to June. Classes run 2 days a week for our youngest children and 4 days per week for the older pre-K children. Classes are held in the morning OR afternoon.

Spaces in ABC Head Start are extremely limited. Parents or guardians must apply online at https://www.abcheadstart.org/apply for their child to be considered for the program. Families with low income and children with significant developmental delays or disabilities will be given priority.

We recognize the need for Head Start programming for families where factors in addition to developmental delays may create barriers to success in learning and in life. For children who do not have a developmental delay or disability, vulnerability factors will be considered for program eligibility.
Some examples of vulnerable families are those experiencing challenges of social isolation, recent job loss, new to Canada or Edmonton, lone or teen parents, housing or transportation barriers, developmental or literacy barriers, and those dealing with mental health, addictions or family violence.

Every year we raise funds to allow children who are not eligible for PUF, or whose families are unable to pay fees, to come to Head Start. We will accept as many children from families that need extra help as our fundraising allows.

Visit our Head Start program page to see our current locations.

If your child is in a pre-k program where they are 4 or older by December 31, they will receive bussing as long as they meet the requirements for Alberta Education’s transportation grant. This is determined based on your home address and your child’s assessed support needs.

If your child is in the early learning program where they are 3 years old by December 31, they will not be eligible to ride the yellow school bus.

If your child is not eligible for busing, you will be required to transport your child.

Once we receive Part One and Part Two of your application with the necessary documents attached, parents or guardians will be contacted by our Family Engagement team to complete a screening over the phone. If you have not received any notice after 3 weeks, please call 780-461-5353 or email intake@abcheadstart.org to check the status of your application. You can review a map of the intake journey below, so you know what to expect.

The children are given free, healthy snacks during programming.

On the first day of school, please send your child with these items:

• Small backpack

• Change of clothes (t-shirt, pants, socks & underwear)

• Indoor shoes with your child’s name on the bottom. These shoes will be left at school for your
  child to change into each day when they arrive (Velcro is a good choice so children can put on
  and take off their shoes by themselves)

• If your child is using pull-ups, please send a package with them in case of an accident.

Every day:

• Ensure that your child is dressed for the weather when they arrive at school.

Like us on Facebook!  www.facebook.com/abcheadstart. We also post videos for parents and children on YouTube at www.youtube.com/abcheadstartsociety. Or follow us on Instagram and Twitter @abcheadstart. And of course, visit our website at www.abcheadstart.org to see the latest updates and events.