Our Curriculum

The Appalachian Council Head Start utilizes the High Scope curriculum, Creative curriculum, and Frog Street curriculum.  Each of our curricula aligns with the West Virginia Early Learning Standards and Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework.

The Council also offers several classrooms in collaboration with the Boards of Education in all the following eleven West Virginia counties: Boone, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Jackson, Pleasants, Putnam, Roane, Wirt, Wood, and Tyler counties. 

What services does the Appalachian Council Head Start program offer?

• Engaging curriculum administered by certified Early Childhood Teachers and Aides
• Health screenings by trained staff
• Regular parent involvement meetings
• Opportunities for parents to be involved in decision-making
• Social service/special need referrals based on need
• Nutritional services provided to children and families
• Opportunities for parents to participate in a family partnership agreement
• Opportunities for families and approved community volunteers
• Services for children with disabilities
• Training opportunities for parents throughout the year
• Family Literacy Program
• Opportunities for parents to participate with their child in child-initiated literacy activities
• Transportation to and from school
• One classroom per site open at 7:30 a.m. daily (when school is in session)

Where can I find an Appalachian Council Head Start classroom?

The Appalachian Council operates nine “stand-alone” centers.  Although some of these centers may include classrooms that operate in partnership with the county boards of education, the centers themselves are managed and operated by the Appalachian Council. 

Our centers are located at the following addresses:

Boone County

Racine Site
Rt. 3 John Slack Park
Racine, WV 25165
304-837-7303

Danville Site
731 Hopkins Avenue
Danville, WV 25943
1-877-539-2242

Jackson County

Fairplain Site
HC 88Box 175 Cedar Lakes Drive
Ripley, WV 25271
304-373-1130

Ravenswood Site
209 Henry Street
Ravenswood, WV 26164
304-273-3491

Putnam County

Hurricane Site
PO Box 255
2492 US Rt. 60
Hurricane, WV 25526
304-562-6217

Roane County

Spencer Site
PO Box 106
811 Madison Ave, Suite 4
Spencer, WV 25276
304-927-4206

Wood County

Dudley Site
2501 Dudley Ave
Parkersburg, WV 26101
304-865-7240

Cedar Grove Site
490 Cedar Grove Road
Parkersburg, WV 26101
304-485-8884

Washington Site
10731 Dupont Rd.
Washington, WV 26181
304-863-8390

Your Child’s Classroom

At the Appalachian Council Head Start, we take pride in providing our children with an interactive and engaging curriculum designed to prepare them for kindergarten.  Our staff works hard to develop and deliver activities that support your child’s “. . . growth in language, literacy, mathematics, science, social and emotional functioning, creative arts, physical skills, and approaches to learning.” 

To accomplish this goal, we believe in structuring inclusive, safe, and creative classrooms.  Each classroom will develop and post a daily schedule with blocks of time for each of the activities offered. 

Generally, the schedule may look like the sample below:

ARRIVAL TIME 
INTRODUCTION TO THE DAY 
BREAKFAST 
CLEAN UP/BRUSH TEETH 
LEARNING CENTERS/CHOICE TIME 
CLEAN UP 

CIRCLE TIME/STORY TIME 
WASH HANDS 
LUNCH 
CLEAN UP/BRUSH TEETH 
REST/QUIET TIME 
OUTSIDE PLAY/GROSS MOTOR DISMISSAL

A substantial portion of the day (1/3) must be made available for free choice time.

Hours may vary by location.  For the most part Head Start will have staff available between 7:00 AM and 4:00 PM.  A typical school day will be six (6) hours, four (4) days a week.  There will be 138 instructional days per year.  Some classrooms will have to make up days due to inclement weather emergencies.

Transportation

The Appalachian Council provides bus transportation to many of its sites.  Our buses will pick up your child in the morning and return them home in the afternoon when school is over.  Below is an outline of how our buses operate:

• A bus-aide is required on all our buses any time they run.  The aide is there to assist the child to put on the five-point safety harness when they board the bus. The aide also helps assist the child in getting out of the harness when their stop is reached.  The aide is also there to maintain order on the bus, insuring the children stay seated and buckled in while the bus is in motion. The aide also takes attendance, noting which children are present every day on both the morning and afternoon runs. The aide and the driver both are required to check that no children get left on the bus on either the morning or afternoon runs. 
• Emergency contact information is kept on the bus and children are only released to authorized parents/ guardians.
• Drivers notify by telephone the parents/ guardians of the children on their run if the bus isn’t running for any reason on either the morning or afternoon run.
• We maintain clean, serviceable buses that are road worthy, safe, and in compliance with state and federal regulations. We will cancel a day’s bus run, if needed, rather than have children transported in an unsafe piece of equipment.
• The buses are equipped with first-aid kits, and bodily fluid spill kits.  Both driver and aid are trained and certified in CPR as well as basic first aid.
• Bus routes are designed so that no child will spend more than 1 hour on the bus at a time, (in many cases it is much less).

Click on your county to find out more about transportation locations: Boone, Jackson, Putnam, Roane, Wood.

Boone County

Madison Church Classrooms, Foster WV
Racine Site, Racine WV, (2 buses)
Boone County Schools, Madison WV

Jackson County

Fairplain Site, Ripley WV
Ravenswood Site, Ravenswood WV, (2 buses)

Putnam County

Hurricane Classrooms, Hurricane WV, (2 buses)
Buffalo Elementary, Buffalo WV

Roane County

Spencer Classrooms, Spencer WV 

Wood County

Dudley Ave. Site, Parkersburg WV, (2 buses)
Cedar Grove Site, Parkersburg WV
Washington Site, Washington WV, (2 buses)