For decades, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Head Start, located in a modest strip mall in Arleta, has quietly yet steadily provided resources for low-income families in the Northeast San Fernando Valley, including early childhood education and family support services.
Now, some of those services are coming directly to the community in a mobile classroom. On May 1, the “UCLA Head Start on Wheels” program was launched – a large RV that’s been transformed into a traveling learning center. Its first stop will be at Recreation Park in the City of San Fernando, around mid-May, for two days of the week.
Currently, the mobile bus only has 16 slots, which are for children who qualify and have signed up with UCLA Head Start. More than 40 kids are already on a waiting list. Once the child is enrolled in pre-school or kindergarten, they are transitioned out of the program and the next child on the list takes the slot.
With a focus on promoting school readiness and optimal child health and nutrition, it’s noted that children up to 5 years old who go through the program are likely not just to succeed in school, but in higher education.
Many success stories have come out of this Head Start program, including that of Sebastian Pereyra and his mother, Magdalena Pereyra. They were both at the ribbon-cutting to celebrate the mobile classroom.
After her son was born, Magdalena Pereyra struggled with postpartum depression – as she dealt with a lot of fear and doubt about being a good mother – and turned to UCLA Head Start for help when Sebastian Pereyra was about a year old.
Sebastian Pereyra has vague but positive memories of the childhood educator, Delia Vicente, assigned to his family, coming to his home. The lessons she provided were from an evidence-based curriculum focused on child development, which also gives parents the opportunity to learn that they are their child’s first teacher.
For instance, Vicente not only helped her son learn how to read but also taught Magdalena Pereyra how to read to him in a way that would catch his attention.
He said what he clearly remembers is feeling supported and excited to learn, which fueled his curiosity.
At the same time, Vicente was also able to support Magdelena Pereyra by understanding her serious condition and connecting her with the right mental health services.
UCLA Head Start didn’t end when Sebastian Pereyra turned 5; the lessons learned would stay at the center for both of their lives.
He volunteered for the program throughout middle and high school, helping with a food drive for Thanksgiving, which reinforced the importance of giving back to the community.
Magdalenam Pereyra went back to school, graduating from the University of La Verne with a bachelor’s degree in 2013 and later a master’s degree in adolescent development in 2023. She worked for Head Start as an educator in 2006, and since 2015, she’s been the family and disabilities services manager for the program.
While in college, Sebastian Pereyra co-founded Kaminos, a nonprofit that sets up and hosts free STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workshops, in collaboration with National Geographic, for students in grades starting from kindergarten through eighth grade in the San Fernando Valley and LA.
Now, he’s just a few weeks away from graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in mechanical engineering and will soon begin a career as a research and development engineer at Medtronic, a medical device company.
Looking back on his journey with Head Start, Sebastian Pereyra said, “Whatever I wanted to do, whatever I was interested in, they would support me in that. I was never scared to go into something that I was interested in. I always had encouragement. That was really the driving force that kicked off my interest in engineering.”
“Head Start just works because it doesn’t teach just the child, it teaches the entire family,” Magdalena Pereyra said. “What I see now with our new parents is they’re getting the opportunity … to understand that they are their child’s first teacher, that they are the core of their center and that the child really will develop successfully when they have the appropriate environments. Head Start provides those environments and teaches the family about those environments.”
Early School Readiness
UCLA Head Start offers a variety of services – one of the main ones being home visits by trained early childhood educators. These weekly visits cover the child’s development and school readiness activities, where the educators also engage the parents in setting goals for their kids and the family.
Other services include socialization, where both children and parents are encouraged to engage with other families; developmental screenings at least twice a year; health tracking and monitoring; and access to registered dieticians and mental health counselors.
Mobile Classroom is a Dream Come True
Vicente, now the executive director of UCLA Head Start, also relayed her personal story at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, recounting how she grew up in poverty and how early support programs available to her through local agencies changed the course of her life and taught her the value of collaboration and commitment.
Fueled by that passion and experience, Vicente said she felt a desire to create a program that could also make a difference in the lives of children and families in need.
“This is at the heart of why this mobile unit exists and why we strive to create innovative programming that doesn’t exist yet, but is here to meet the needs of the community,” Vicente said. “The mobile classroom is an expression of that commitment.”
Vicente said this new mobile classroom, which was in the works for two years, is designed for children whose lives are shaped by unforeseen circumstances – including poverty, health needs, housing instability or constant transitions – and are the hardest to reach. She doesn’t want to wait for families to come to them, but instead prefers to go out into the community and find them.
In addition to having books, games, toys, including a play kitchen, the mobile unit includes whiteboards, a touchscreen TV and a microscope using a digital camera as a lens. The bus also includes a restroom, sink and a microwave.
“The mobile classroom is not just a vehicle,” Vicente said. “It’s a bridge to school readiness, to health development, to screeners, to health access and hope for a different future. … Every classroom seat on this mobile unit represents a possibility. Every child we reach represents progress.
“This work reminds us that meaningful change happens when we’re bold enough to rethink how services can be delivered and devoted enough to keep children at the center of every decision together.”
The mobile classroom will also be providing free hearing and vision screenings for young children in the community, regardless of whether they’re with Head Start. This impacts the child’s development, Vicente said, because if the child needs glasses or has a hearing impairment, they can get connected to the support they need early on.
“Our aim is to buffer the effects of poverty through early childhood services,” Vicente said. “Investing in the children is an investment that comes back. For every dollar that you invest, you get six back, and the children are really our future, and they need a community that is going to embrace them and foster their development. Together, we can do it.”
To be eligible for UCLA Head Start, you need to live in the Northeast Valley, including the City of San Fernando, Pacoima, Sylmar, Mission Hills and Panorama City. Income must also be below a certain threshold, depending on family size.
Editor Diana Martinez contributed to this article.
For more information, visit https://www.uclahealth.org/departments/pediatrics/head-start.