Programs / Financial Assistance

Head Start for 3-year-olds (Tuition-Based Seats Not Offered)

• The Ascension Head Start has seats available in public school sites across the parish
• Seats for 3-year-olds that qualify for Head Start are available in the following school sites only:
  • Ascension Head Start 
  • Duplessis Primary School 
  • Pecan Grove Primary School 
  • Lakeside Primary 
  • Sorrento Primary 
  • Sugar Mill Primary

Child must be 3 years old by September 30th of the program year  and meet ONE or more of the following eligibility requirements:

1. Total household income must be at or below the 100% federal poverty level
2. Foster care placement
3. Verified Homelessness
4. Public Assistance, such as SNAP or Social Security & disability benefits
5. Student has a qualifying IEP for speech, cognitive, or developmental delays whose needs are best met in a full-time Head Start classroom

Pre-K for 4-year-olds (Tuition-Based Offered)

• Publicly funded seats are provided by the Louisiana Department of Education's preschool program,   LA-4. Each parish is provided a specific number of seats every academic year. Families who apply are determined to be eligible based on income. Seats are limited and available at public school sites across the parish for eligible families and children.
• Child is at risk of not meeting kindergarten readiness standards due to one or more contributing factors, such as being an English language learner in a family where one or more parents speak a language other than English as the primary language at home, or determined at risk of being developmentally unprepared based on screening results.
• A child with a qualifying IEP for cognitive or developmental delays is best served in a full-time preschool classroom.
• A limited number of tuition-based seats are available at some public school sites.
  • Tuition-based seats are made available once all qualifying children have been in publicly funded seats.
  • Tuition amount is based on the latest sliding income scale.

Child must be 4 years old by September 30th of the academic year and meet eligibility requirements:

• Total household income is at or below the 200% federal poverty level
• Foster care placement
• Homelessness
• Public assistance, such as SNAP or Medicaid

Public School Pre-K is an Optional Program. Parents can opt in or opt out.

Pre-K is not mandatory like K-12 grades. 

• The Ascension Pre-K program offers two settings: a general education classroom and an inclusion classroom. Once a child is determined eligible for the Pre-K program, the child is placed in one of these two classroom settings. There is no option to move from the original classroom placement. Families have access to a choice of excellent early learning centers for Pre-K in our community that utilize the same Frog Street curriculum. This option requires the family to pay tuition privately. Public school pre-K is optional, not mandatory.

Parish Seats Program (in early learning centers for birth to 3 years). Ascension Ready Start Network has been granted funds to provide the Parish Seats Program. These funds are made available through a partnership with the Ascension Parish Government and the ECE Fund and are limited each year. The Parish Seats Program was created to assist families struggling to pay for child care.

• Eligibility is based on your child’s age, your household income, and your work or school status.
• Seats are limited. 
• Birth to three years old (by September 30)
• For children ages Birth to 3 years old attending a qualifying  Early Learning Center from our list of  participating centers within our network

APPLY FOR CCAP