MEO Head Start Lahaina preschool site to reopen Thursday
About 20 Maui Economic Opportunity staff and board members and county officials, including Department of Housing and Human Concerns Director Lori Tsuhako, participated in the blessing of the MEO Head Start Lahaina site Tuesday. The preschool next to Princess Nahienaena Elementary School will reopen Thursday. PC: MEO- MEO Early Childhood Services Director Debbi Amaral leads a program to bless the Head Start site at Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary School.
- Those attending the blessing of the MEO Lahaina Head Start preschool site posed for a photo.
- MEO Board Member Kai Pelayo throws a spotlight on the Head Start Lahaina site.
- Makalapua Kanuha blessed the MEO Head Start site in Lahaina on Tuesday morning. Following extensive cleaning, repairs and renovations, the preschool center will reopen Thursday; it’s been shuttered since the Aug. 8 wildfires.
Maui Economic Opportunity’s Head Start Lahaina site, the only preschool in town spared by the Aug. 8 wildfires, will reopen Thursday, Feb. 1, following extensive cleaning, repairs, renovations and clearances for health and safety.
A blessing, led by Makalapua Kanuha, was held Tuesday morning at the site next to Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary School. About 20 people attended, including Lori Tsuhako, Maui County Director of Housing and Human Concerns, and Wendy Ellis with the federal Administration for Children and Families, as well as MEO administration, staff and board members.
The salt in her bowl “represents preservation, purification,” Kanuha told the group. “These are just symbols. These are representations of life, to preserve the life of our keiki and kumu in this area.”
Tsuhako called the reopening of the center “hopeful” and noted the restoration of 20 preschool seats of the 275 lost in the wildfires.
Head Start currently has about a half-dozen 3- and 4-year-olds signed up, so the site will be accepting more children. Many pre-wildfire students and family relocated to other parts of the island—and some to other Head Start sites—as well as off-island.
The federally-funded program provides comprehensive early childhood education services to families that meet federal poverty income guidelines and selection criteria. Preference is given to foster and homeless children.
The program also begins signing up children for the 2024-25 school year beginning Thursday, Feb. 1, which is when applications become available. Forms may be completed online at meoinc.org (go to the “Quick Links” section).
For more information, contact the MEO Head Start office at 808-249-2988. Office hours are 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, except on federal and state holidays.
MEO Head Start also is seeking lead teachers for Lahaina and Kīhei sites. The positions, which require at least a Child Development Associate credential, pay up to $24.50 an hour based on qualifications.
For more information, call 808-243-4310, email hr@meoinc.org or go to www.meoinc.org (and click on the “Careers” tab) to fill out an application.
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