JAY, Okla. — Cherokee Nation leaders gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the tribe’s new state-of-the-art Jay Head Start Center on May 22. The 9,300-square-foot facility is a $6.5 million dollar investment into early childhood education.
The Jay Head Start Center will provide comprehensive early childhood education, health, and nutrition services. The new state-of-the-art facility includes amenities such as office spaces, a conference room, two Head Start classrooms, a large outdoor playground and an indoor gross motor room. The gross motor room serves as a shelter during inclement weather with a FEMA rated tornado shelter. A rooftop garden is also featured in the project.
“We recognize that there is a collective stake in every young person in this community. There are a lot of people who get obsessed over the cost of things and not the value of the return on that investment – but we know from studies that for every $1 invested into Head Start, we see as much as $9 in societal benefits,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. “An investment by the Cherokee Nation into early childhood education is a signal that the best days of our Nation are ahead of us, not behind us.”
Funding for the Jay Head Start center was provided by the Verna D. Thompson Early Childhood Education Act, which was reauthorized by Chief Hoskin with support from the Council of the Cherokee Nation in 2024. The legislation doubled the tribe’s investment in Head Start construction from $40 million to $80 million to replace or rehabilitate all of the tribe's Head Start centers with new, state-of-the-art facilities.
In November of 2024, the tribe celebrated its first project completion under the landmark legislation with the new Nowata Head Start building. Other Head Start facilities being completed through the project will include Tahlequah, Stilwell (combining two facilities in the area), Salina, Pryor/MidAmerica Industrial Park, and Kenwood.
“Early childhood education is not only life-changing for the young Cherokees who participate in our Head Start program, but it changes the lives of their families and their communities for generations,” said Deputy Chief Bryan Warner. “We have an amazing Head Start program with strong roots, and we’re proud of what the future holds with these new facilities.”
The federal Head Start program was established in 1965 and is celebrating its 60-year anniversary in May of 2025. Head Start serves over 40 million children and families across the U.S., and over half of the Head Starts in the U.S. are located in rural communities.
Cherokee Nation established its Head Start program in 1978, and the program now serves over 900 children.
“Today, our Nation is celebrating a major investment into the future,” said Council Speaker Mike Shambaugh. “The Council of the Cherokee Nation will always have the back of our children. We will continue to follow in the steps of our ancestors, who made major investments into education after removal.”
District 10 Councilor Melvina Shotpouch shared her admiration for the growth of the Head Start program in Jay.
“Not only does this program help kids, but I’ve also seen it help mothers who’ve reached for continuing education after seeing what these children need,” said Councilor Shotpouch. “The first Head Start in Jay was in an old American Legion building, so comparing that structure to this is unmeasurable.”