For 40 years, Head Start has lived up to its name.

It’s given kids, many from economically distressed families, a head start on good health, social growth and learning.

Head Start began life as an eight-week summer program in 1965. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the program today, it “was designed to help break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs.” Head Start started the same year in Androscoggin and has grown to include centers in Lewiston, Auburn, Livermore Falls, Mechanic Falls, Turner and Lisbon, as well as programs in Oxford and Franklin counties.

Since those early days, Head Start has enrolled more than 22 million kids. In 2004, more than 900,000 children were enrolled nationally, with about 4,000 of those in Maine. The program stresses parental involvement and counts more than 880,000 parents as volunteers.

According to a study of 10,000 Head Start children in 2002-03, participants exceeded expectations and entered school “ready to succeed.” The study measured readiness in several areas, including literacy, language and early math skills. It also included assessments in physical health, social and emotional development, creativity, small and gross motor skills, nature and science, and approaches to learning. Beyond teaching ABCs and 123s, Head Start builds the foundation of good health and socialization, skills necessary for success beginning in kindergarten and continuing throughout life.

Despite its success and the number of children who have been helped, Head Start must be constantly defended against budget cuts and ideological adversaries. Funding has not kept pace with need, and about two out of every five eligible 3- and 4-year-olds are left out.

Head Start began in 1965 because leaders in Washington realized there was a need for quality pre-school education. As Estelle Rubinstein, executive director of Androscoggin Head Start, tells the Sun Journal, that need still exists today.

“I just want the program to have the same mission and goals that it’s had for 40 years,” she said. “I just don’t want to see it watered down, because then it’s not what it was intended to be.”