What's the Plan for 2018-2019?

In late July, the MHSA Board of Directors met for three days in Columbia, Maryland and stewed over the direction of MHSA for the next year. The Board left refreshed, and with a vision to serve our members and the Head Start community for the upcoming program year.

Important Dates to Remember

Institutes and Conferences

October 8-11 - Fall Leadership Institute (NHSA)
November 9-10 - Program Governance Institute REGISTER HERE
November 16-17 - Program Governance Institute REGISTER HERE
December 17-21 - Parent Family Engagement Conference ( Orlando, FL)
January 27-31 - Winter Leadership Institute (NHSA)
February 20-22 - Health Institute with a Pre-Conference Emergency Preparedeness Institute presented by the National Center on Health
May 7-10 - Spring Conference in Ocean City

Quarterly Director Meetings

November 5 - Quarterly Directors Meeting (Rockville, MD)
January 10 - Quarterly Directors Meeting (Pasadena, MD)
May - Quarterly Directors Meeting (During Spring Conference in Ocean City, MD)
August - Quarterly Directors Meeting (Day TBA | Location Garrett County, MD)

Meetings and Events

September 14 - Data Managers Planning Meeting (Web) REGISTER HERE. Scroll down to KRA to learn more!
November 2018 - General Membership Meeting
March 13 - Head Start Day in Annapolis (Tentative Date)
April 2019 - Financial Literacy Fair
June or July 2019 - Board of Directors Retreat

Become an MHSA Board Member!

General Membership meeting will be held in a physical location, through webinar, and live streaming. More information will be released soon. New Board member voting will also be held online. We currently have the following Board positions open:

2 HS/EHS Administrators
2 HS/EHS Staff
3 HS/EHS Parents
1 Friend
1 EHS/CC Partnership (Administrator or Staff)

If you are interested in becoming a Board Member please use the following applications and submit by October 5.

Admin/Staff Application; Friend/CC Partnership Application;

HS/EHS Parent/Guardian Application

You can learn more about the responsibilities of the Board by watching the video above.

Professional Development

One of our most critical initiatives for 2018-2019 is to bring more training and professional development opportunities to MHSA members, at a lower cost. We will plan to accomplish this goal by offering smaller institutes focused in specific content areas rather than two large conferences. MSDE is a co-sponsor of the institute helping to keep price low for members.

Our first institute will be the Program Governance Institute taking plance November 9 - 10 and November 16 -17. Learn more and register HERE.

Our second institute is the Health Institute taking place February 20 - 22. On February 20, the National Center on Health will lead a one day Emergency Preparedness Institute during the pre-conference. The conference will focus on several areas of health including physical, mental and social-emotional, as well as topics centered on Opiods. We will also hold a Health Managers Network meeting.

MHSA is excited to bring the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® program to our members. The program is considered the worldwide standard for crisis prevention and intervention training. With a core philosophy of providing for the Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security of everyone involved in a crisis situation, the program’s proven strategies give human service providers and educators the skills to safely and effectively respond to anxious, hostile, or violent behavior while balancing the responsibilities of care.

The program will be offered free of charge to Head Start programs across the state. The only cost will be that of workbooks. Participants will receive a certification upon completion. MHSA will be trained in November with classes being offered beginning in 2019.

Partnerships

Maryland State Department of Education

During the retreat, the Board finalized the 2017 Needs Assessment, Strategic Plan and Scope of Work with the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). We will continue to work with MSDE to address the five federal priorities of the Head Start Collaboration Office and one regional priority. You can view the assessment, strategic plan, federal and regional priorities HERE.

Maryland Council on Economic Education

MHSA has also partnered with the Maryland Council on Economic Education through Towson University to bring the Stock Market Game and financial literacy programming to Maryland Head Start parents. We will pilot the game with three programs throughout the state and offer a Financial Literacy Fair in April of 2019. Based on the success of the partnership, we will look to add more programs in 2019-2020. You can learn more about the Stock Market Game by clicking HERE.

Colleges and Universities

We have reached out to Frostburg State University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to meet with them about their partnerships with Head Start programs. Each program allows their Early Education students to student-teach in Head Start programs. Our goals is to research their programs and develop a network of higher education institutions that will allow their students to student-teach in Head Start programs.

Advocacy

Maryland Excels

As mentioned earlier, the Board finalized the 2018 - 2019 strategic plan with MSDE. MHSA is working with Maryland State Department of Education to establish a Head Start track within MD Excels. We will continue to work with MSDE and MD Excels to create of a process that reduces duplication of information for programs with multiple sites. We will establish a workgroup to help focus our advocacy efforts with MD Excels.

Universal Pre-K

In May, MHSA submitted a letter to the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education (Kirwan Commission) explaining Head Start concerns regarding Universal Pre-K in Maryland. You can view the letter HERE. We will remain involved as the Commission prepares recommendations that could be released as soon as November, 2018. Our Public Policy Committee has a meeting on Thursday, August 30 at 1 PM to discuss our next steps in response to the 'Elements of the Preliminary Recommendations' released by the Commission. You can view the recommendations HERE.

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment

MHSA continues to advocate for and to ensure the growth of children and families in Head Start is told and represented accurately. We will work with MSDE and other concerned programs to help develop a standard form that will report prior care accurately. We will also continue to advocate for a State Identifier for each Head Start child.

To ensure the growth of Head Start children and families is accurately represented, MHSA is developing a Growth Report to be produced annually. The report will show the growth of children and families from the time they entered the program. The initial phase of the report is to create a network of Data Managers to determine what data is needed and how to collect and aggregate it. The first meeting will be held online on September 14, 2018. You can register for the meeting HERE

National Head Start Association

Once again, MHSA will serve as the Fall Leadership Institute (FLI) State Captain for the National Head Start Association (NHSA) We will organize visits to legislators on Capitol Hill. Please stay tuned for more information. You can register for the FLI HERE. We will also serve as the state captain during the Winter Leadership Institute.

MHSA will continue to work closely with NHSA to advocate for Head Start on issues surrounding