A group of women pose and smile for a photo

The team at Northern Kentucky Community Action Commissioner (NKCAC) Boone County Head Start following the Class of 2024 graduation. Photo courtesy Carol Eggleston

Hello, my name is Carol Eggleston. I am the site manager at the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission (NKCAC) Boone County Head Start and have worked in this field for 34 years.

My role as well as my team’s role is to follow NKCAC Head Start’s mission to promote, educate, advocate and provide equitable services to elevate the quality of life for the people we serve. Our vision is to empower individuals, strong families and thriving communities. Our values include empathy, dignity, independence and accountability, all of which line up with the Family Friendly Certification process.

My team and I share a passion and dedication to working with children and families, helping them grow, learn and thrive. Working towards and achieving the Family Friendly Certification made perfect sense for us to do as a team.

Our administration first learned about the Family Friendly program and shared all the information with all of the Head Start site managers. Each center/site began the journey by gathering all the needed documentation individually. Fortunately, because of the high standards our program has, the most difficult part was just putting it all together to submit.

Working through the Family-Friendly process, I personally came across a few things that we tweaked to follow the Prichard Committee’s suggestions. We as a program are always eager to enhance our program and try new things that may make us stronger. We will continue to strive to make our program stronger and maintain a high standard in our program. Being a part of the Family Friendly process has brought attention to our families of all the extra care and quality we put into our program.

Each year, the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence awards Family Friendly Schools Certification to a group of schools and early care centers. The group at Boone County Head Start and 53 others earned the certification in 2024. For more details on Family Friendly Schools Certification, visit the Prichard Committee’s family engagement website.