WHAT:
The Cherokee Nation will host a grand-opening ceremony for the tribe’s new 9,300-square-foot Jay Head Start facility, built as part of the Cherokee Nation’s landmark legislation investing $80 million into replacing or rehabilitating all of the tribe’s early childhood Head Start facilities across the reservation.
WHEN:
Thursday, May 22
1 p.m.
WHERE:
935 E. Melton Drive
Jay, Oklahoma
WHO:
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Deputy Chief Bryan Warner
Council of the Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Nation Education Services
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Cherokee Nation will host a grand-opening ceremony for the tribe’s new 9,300-square-foot Jay Head Start facility Thursday, May 22.
The new facility was built as part of the Cherokee Nation’s landmark Verna D. Thompson Early Childhood Education Act legislation, which is investing $80 million into replacing the tribe’s aging early childhood education Head Start facilities across the reservation.
The new Cherokee Nation Jay Head Start facility includes two early Head Start classrooms, office space, a conference room, a large outdoor playground, and an indoor gross motor skills room that also serves as a fully rated FEMA storm shelter.
Cherokee Nation currently serves over 900 children through its Head Start programs, which were first started in 1978. Cherokee Nation’s Head Start students range from as young as six weeks to preschool age. They are taught cognitive, language, motor and social skills as part of the tribe’s Head Start programs.
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.