Health Courses at The Academy

Whether you are new to Head Start or an experienced professional looking to enhance your expertise, we have courses to meet your needs.

Health Courses Description Author PD Hours Included in A+
Bloodborne Pathogens Safety Basics

Head Start Basics Series:

Children and adults in early care and education programs can be infected with serious viruses or bacteria and not even know it. This course explores best practices from the Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) to mitigate the potential of this serious risk.

Dr. Deborah Bergeron1Yes
Early Childhood Health Services Basics

Head Start Basics Series:

Health and wellbeing serve as the foundation of school readiness and child development. This course explores how early childhood programs can use Head Start’s whole-child approach to support children, families, and communities on their paths to success.

Dr. Deborah Bergeron1Yes
Health Services Essentials

This course provides an overview of all things related to providing high-quality health services to Head Start and Early Head Start children and their families.

Jackie Rivera12No
Health Service Certification

This certification provides health service staff the opportunity to demonstrate competency of the essential skills that support children’s health and wellbeing in a developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate manner.

Team NHSA40No

What is A+?

A+ is short for Academy+, NHSA's professional development subscription for Head Start programs. A+ is a comprehensive solution to prepare your Head Start program for successful Focus Area 1 and 2 reviews and meet approximately 90% of the OHS training requirements.

Nutrition Courses Description Author PD Hours Included in A+
Promoting Good Health and Nutrition

CDA Renewal Series

This course is designed to support CDA renewal for both Preschool and Infant & Toddler credential types.

Zuly Vazquez2Yes
Nutrition Basics

Enhance and expand your nutrition-based programming both in the classroom and for families at home.

Rachel Hutchison3Yes

Featured Faculty

Dr. Deborah Bergeron

Dr. Deborah Bergeron

Dr. B served as director of the Office of Head Start from 2018-21. From 2019-21 she broadened her leadership as director of the Office of Early Childhood Development in the Administration for Children and Families. Known as "Dr. B" to former students and teachers, she spent three decades in pre-K–12 public education as a classroom teacher and school administrator. She currently serves as deputy director for Community Engagement and Innovation at the National Head Start Association.

Jackie Rivera

Jackie Rivera

Jackie has been a Health Administrator at a Head Start in central Missouri for over 10 years and is a Certified Community Action Professional. Before becoming a nurse, Jackie spent 10 years as an early childhood education teacher. Jackie oversees health and safety at her agency and is project manager for the agency's Childhood Obesity and Diabetes Prevention Project and Women and Infant Relief Program. Jackie is a Licensed Practical Nurse, Child Development Associate, and Lactation Counselor. Jackie is certified to train in many topics, such as Compassion Fatigue, CPR/First Aid Motivational Interviewing, I Am Moving, I Am Learning, Family Wellness, Infant Massage, Mind in The Making, and Experiential Facilitation. Jackie has had the honor of being named for a National Child Plus Community Service Award and received MOCAN Healthcare Profession Award.

Zuly Vazquez

Zuly Vazquez

Zuly is the Manager of Early Head Start Professional Learning Programs at NHSA. She has worked with Head Start, and Early Head Start programs for over a decade, specializing in training, mentoring, coaching, facilitation, curriculum implementation, and management. She worked for several years in the classroom, providing high-quality education to children from different cultures, traditions, and ethnicities. She is a former EHS/HS parent. She has vast experience supporting and providing technical assistance to teachers, family child care providers, education specialists, and families in large EHS/HS programs in Florida and Georgia. Over her career, she designed a supplemental Christian early childhood curriculum, bilingual online lessons, and classroom observation tools and has facilitated early childhood education courses in English and Spanish at the college level. As an active early childhood advocate, she is a board member of her local NAEYC affiliate and Family Child Care Home Alliance of Georgia. She is a senior advisor of Latinas United for the Children of America.

Rachel Hutchison

Rachel Hutchison

As the associate of Special Projects at NHSA, Rachel seeks innovative ways to serve the Head Start and Early Head Start community. In 2021, she launched NHSA in the Classroom, an initiative that aims to increase access to world-class arts and educational resources through live, online programming. She manages Academy courses focused on instructional practice and family engagement. Rachel earned her bachelors in writing and communication at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, and her masters in creative writing at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. Rachel grew up in Havre, Montana and enjoys puppetry, music, and hiking.

Testimonials

"I learned more than I thought I would. I'd definitely encourage you to take part in the experience! I have nothing, but positive things to say."

- Health Essentials learner

"If you want to learn more about the agency that you work for, then you should take advantage of The Academy. Take the Health Service Credential, you will learn more about the reasonings for policy and procedures."

– Health Service Certification completer

"I have learned so much overall from this course and I now have the confidence to now apply this to my position."

– Health Service Certification completer

"The most valuable part is becoming more familiar with the Head Start Program Performance Standards and learning how your program applies them."

– Health Service Certification completer