Head Start was born out of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 War on Poverty, when Sargent Shriver convened a panel of experts to design a comprehensive child development program for children in low-income families. Among them were Dr. Robert Cooke, a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins University, and Dr. Edward Zigler, a Yale psychologist who later became known as the “Father of Head Start.” Their vision helped ensure the program addressed not only education, but also children’s health, nutrition, and social-emotional development—while giving communities a real stake in its success.
Launched in the summer of 1965 as an eight-week demonstration project, Head Start quickly grew into a year-round, nationwide program. Over the decades, major milestones have included the creation of Early Head Start (1995), expanded bilingual and bicultural programs, stronger teacher qualifications, and a move to a five-year grant cycle to ensure program quality.
Since its founding, Head Start has served more than 40 million children and their families, becoming the most comprehensive early childhood program in the United States. Today, it operates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, and within American Indian, Alaska Native, and Migrant and Seasonal communities.
Head Start is administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the Department of Health and Human Services. See a full timeline.
Source: Office of Head Start, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services