Gateway Community Action Partnership’s Head Start program serves children and families in Mercer County at centers in Ewing/Lawrence, Hamilton 1 and Hamilton 2, Little Cherubs, Hightstown/East Windsor and Hightstown II.

  Head Start is a federal program that provides comprehensive services to pre-school children. In Mercer County, Gateway Community Action Partnership provides services for children ages three to five.  Gateway CAP is a private, non-profit, 501-C-3 agency that administers the Head Start program in Mercer County and five other New Jersey counties and provides full-day pre-school classrooms with certified teachers. Children benefit from the program’s Creative Curriculum and also receive breakfast, lunch and snack daily.

  Program components include: English language development, literacy knowledge and skills, physical development and health, social and emotional development, approaches to learning the feature social studies, science and mathematics knowledge and skills, creative arts expression and logic and reasoning.

  With an emphasis on preparing children for Kindergarten, teachers guide children’s learning through small and large group interactions as well as facilitated play. Social skills are greatly encouraged and modeled.

  Children take supervised class trips to enhance their daily learning experiences. Children are encouraged to use their five senses to discover differences in the world around them and each other.

  Center locations include: Ewing/Lawrence (320 Hollowbrook Dr.), Hamilton 1 (John O. Wilson Neighborhood Center, 169 Wilfred Ave.), Little Cherubs (169 Wilfred Ave.), Hamilton 2 (1801 E. State St.), Hightstown/East Windsor (21 Rev. Wm. Powell Dr.), Hightstown 2 (380 Stockton St.).

  For additional information on Head Start eligibility and how to register your child, call Miguel Maldonado at 609-393-5655.