A preschool program for three- to five-year-old children from low-income families. Its aim is to prepare children for success in school through an early structured learning program.

Head Start began in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty program launched by the administration of president Lyndon B. Johnson. Nearly half the nation's poor people were children under age 12, and Head Start was developed to respond to the needs of poor children as early as possible. A few privately funded pre-school programs for poor children in inner cities and rural areas had shown marked success in raising children's intellectual skills. Many low-income children also had unrecognized health problems and had not been immunized. Head Start was envisioned as a comprehensive program that would provide health and nutritional services to poor children, while also developing their cognitive skills. The program aimed to involve parents as well...