Head Start Champion Retires After 42 Years of Service

In early October, long-time ACF employee Gloree Davis retired after 42 and half years working with the Office of Head Start in the Seattle Regional Office. Davis spent four decades working with a program that is near and dear to her heart. Her Head Start story, though, began long before her federal career.

“It all started in 1967 with my son, Gary Fields, when he enrolled in Head Start at four years old,” she explained. “My daughter enrolled in Head Start two years later in 1969. She also attended an experimental program called the Head Start ‘Follow Through’ program in the Seattle public schools. This program was designed to follow through with children who had been in Head Start, and she spent three years in a Head Start environment from kindergarten to third grade in Seattle Public School.”

Davis could see the difference Head Start had made with her children. Both gained strong academic skills, social skills, and a love for school. Head Start also helped Davis develop professionally.

“I learned to be an advocate for my children in their early school years and throughout all of their public school education,” Davis said. “When they were in Head Start, I was working with a ‘New Careers’ program, which would have allowed me to become a certified teacher in the public schools. I attended my first State Head Start Parents meeting in Tacoma, Wash., and I met a lady named Bonnie Pinkeny, who at that time was president of the Washington State Head Start Parents Association. We had a long conversation about volunteering for Head Start, and she advised me I might have to quit my job in order to volunteer. So I did!”

In 1970, Davis became a Head Start volunteer at a community action program agency called Seattle King County Economic Opportunity Bureau. Two years later, she was recruited to work with the federal government agency overseeing Head Start — the Office of Childhood Development in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

“They really wanted me because of my personal experience as a parent and staff member with Head Start. And after I was hired, I stayed 42 and half years,” she said.

So what were some of the biggest challenges in Davis’ long career?

“When I started in 1972, we did not have Head Start performance standards. Having those standards has made a big difference in improving the performance of Head Starts throughout the country. These days if a program is in compliance with the standards, it is considered a quality program. The other major change has been our training and technical assistance contracts that have changed over the years to help grantees become more stable and be able to deliver quality programs. The new emphasis on school readiness is very different now and very welcome.”

If she could change one thing, what would it be?

“I would make Head Start an entitlement program instead of a discretionary program, so that we could serve all the children who are eligible for it. We know how effective Head Start is and every child who is entitled to this program ought to be able to benefit from it. I wish we didn’t have waiting lists and I wish every child could get the best start (s)he deserves,” she said.

What advice would she give Head Start parents today?

“I encourage parents to understand how important education is in their own lives, and not just the lives of their children, but all children. A Head Start education enables families to seek better jobs and learn how to provide a healthy environment for their children to grow up in. Most of all, it strengthens parents and their families. Supporting families is critical because the family is where the child spends most of their awake time throughout their growth and school years. 

What will she miss about Head Start the most?

“The people I work with in the federal government and also the parents and children that I served with throughout Region 10, I will miss all of them a lot.  It has been my greatest honor to serve the Office of Head Start,” Davis said.