The purpose of this field observation study was to examine the educational programming of Horizons for Homeless Children (HHC). Horizons was founded in 1988 to improve the lives of Massachusetts homeless children and their families. With this in mind, the stated missions of Horizons is “to improve the lives of young homeless children in Massachusetts and help their families succeed by providing high-quality early education, opportunities for play, and comprehensive family support services” (n.d.). To accomplish their intended mission, Horizons tells us that they “also advocate on behalf of young children, train educators and human services providers, and provide research on the impact of early education on homeless children” (n.d). Moreover, to support their mission, Horizons adds that their vision if for “every homeless child” to “have the opportunity to learn, play, and thrive.” Here, we can recognize the intended mission of Horizons is to provide a critical need to a largely disadvantaged student demographic. In short, the mission of Horizons is twofold: to expose a comprehensive early education curriculum to children and provide relevant research for policy change.
In essence, Horizons values are …show more content…
I observed that there were five rooms specifically designed as classroom focused. Across the classrooms were three rooms for administrators and other personnel. Yet, near the classroom I discovered four additional rooms: the family advocates occupied two rooms, one was designated for early intervention sessions, and the last one for staff meetings or parent conferences. Indeed, from my observations I can recognize that the structures of the rooms at the Jamaica Plan HHC center are conducive to its stated mission of supporting children and families. For example, the close proximity of classroom instruction rooms with those rooms for family and advocacy organizations strengthens HCC