Centro de Amor Head Start Cluster Centro de Amor Head Start 309 Stover SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 244-3246 Mel Aragon Head Start 5317 Second St. SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105 877-2750 Mountain View Apartments Head Start 1200 Dickerson SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106 265-0303 Reginald Chavez 2700 Mountain Rd., NW 87104 244-0330

The Centro de Amor Cluster is comprised of four NAEYC accredited centers, serving central Albuquerque and a small section of the South Valley. The largest center, Centro de Amor is located in the downtown area on the corner of 3rd Street and Stover. The cluster serves an area bordered by Coors on the West, San Mateo on the East, I 40 on the North, and Arenal on the South. This area contains the greatest proportion of low-income families in the City with almost half of the 5,200 children under five in the area living in poverty. The Centro de Amor Center enrolls 208 children and offers half day (morning or afternoon) sessions, part day, and full day classes. Mel Aragon enrolls 40 children in two full day classes. Mountain View enrolls 20 children in one part day class and Reginald Chavez enrolls 54 children in two half day session classes and one part day class.

Head Start is one of the most successful federal programs for children ever created. The YDI Head Start program provides comprehensive services for children 3 to 5 years old.

Head Start centers provide a nurturing safe environment for preschoolers. Comprehensive services include a multicultural educational program that is tailored to children’s individual needs, fosters their self-esteem, and develops cognitive, language, motor, and social skills; medical and dental screenings and follow-up treatment, along with classroom lessons that emphasize a variety of preventative health practices; nutritious meals and snacks eaten in family style settings; evaluation, diagnosis, and special services, in a nurturing mainstreamed classroom environment for children with special needs; and regular field trips where children can enjoy and explore the world around them.

Parents are welcomed in the classroom and on the bus as involved participants in their children’s growth and development. They serve on the Head Start Policy Council and Center Committees and have a voice in administrative decisions and programmatic evaluation. YDI Early/Head Start also has a comprehensive social services component. Staff and families develop a partnership agreement that identifies family strengths and goals and they work together to assist family members to achieve their goals.