St. Tammany Parish Early Childhood Ready Start Network

To be eligible for these slots, children must be 3 years old or younger on or before September 30, 2022, and the family must meet income requirements.  All adults in the family must also be working and/or in school.  There is no cost to the family for a child to be enrolled in these slots. 

Slidell Centers:

• Children’s College
• Northshore Kids Academy
• Little Feet First Daycare
• Little Feet First, LLC
• Little Prince & Princess Academy

Covington/Mandeville Centers:

• Little Red Schoolhouse
• Kids Kingdom of Covington
• My Little Sprout
• My Little Sprout Too!
• Park Place Learning Center

Lacombe Centers:

• A to Z Preschool

If you would like more information or to learn the eligibility criteria, contact any of these centers directly or call the St Tammany Schools Early Childhood office at 898-3314 or 629-3223. 

Head Start is a federally funded program for preschool children three to five years of age in low-income families. Early Head Start is a federally funded program for children from birth to age three in low-income families. In St Tammany Parish these programs are managed by a local nonprofit organization, Regina Coeli Child Development Center.  Head Start offers center-based and home-based options at no cost to families.

The Public School Pre K program provides a free daily education to four year old children who meet the income qualifications as determined by the State Department of Education. A tuition fee may be charged for children who do not meet the income guidelines only after all who met the guidelines have been placed.

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Type III child care centers have committed to working with other early care and education providers to raise the level of standards and expectations for children birth to age 5.  Type III centers participate in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) which assists low-income families with the costs of child care while they are at work or attending school. 

Three Type III child care centers in St. Tammany provide a free Pre-K program for four year olds who meet the income requirements set by the State Department of Education. This program is funded by the Nonpublic Schools Early Childhood Development grant (NSECD).

Early Childhood Special Education Services are provided throughout the Network to support students who have identified needs in areas of communication, motor, sensory, cognitive, social, or self-help skills.

If you have questions or concerns about your child's development, contact Early Steps for ages birth to three at 985-429-1252 or Child Search for ages three to five at 985-898-3345.

Printable List

Vision

Provide access to high quality early childhood care and education to all children in St. Tammany Parish.

Mission

We support all early childhood providers with resources and tools needed to ensure all children are in high quality educational environments.

Goals

1. Within the 1st quarter, we will utilize the state system and resources to determine the number of children and their locations on the Child Care Assistant Program waiting list.
2. Over the next 12 months, network leaders will work with Agenda for Children to design a plan to gain access to community funds in the effort to support childcare for all children including children with disabilities.
3. In the effort to increase community awareness and support of financial opportunities needed for early childhood education within St. Tammany Network, network leaders will attend community events such as Chamber of Commerce meetings over the course of the next 12 months.
4. St. Tammany Network leadership committee will develop a criteria system in which funds raised will be appropriately allocated to childcare centers serving identified, qualifying children.