Regina Coeli Child Development

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RCCDC provides screenings and ongoing assessments of children to identify any need for special services. If you believe that your child has a special need, please tell your Teacher, Family Advocate, or Center Director about your concerns. If follow-up is needed, we may refer your child for further evaluation. Parents are always involved in the referral, evaluation, and goal setting process for their child. Staff members work closely with families and community agencies to provide services to meet the special needs of children. Children may have special needs in the areas of speech, language, learning, hearing, vision, behavior, motor development (involving large or small muscles), social or emotional health, and mental health.

In 1973 the word about Head Start funding reached Bogalusa. A group known as the Child Care Center of Bogalusa came to the Regina Coeli Board to ask for funding. Like the Franklinton program, the group in Bogalusa ran a combination Title XX day care and Head Start program for many years. It was fully funded by Head Start in 1987. The program continued to operate in the old Bogalusa City School building on Sullivan Drive which had been vacated during integration. The persistent leaking roof and an even more persistent bunch of pigeons made it impossible to continue serving children there. A new Head Start facility was built, and the children and staff moved on Martin Luther King’s Birthday in 1991 to 1202 Erie Avenue – their new red schoolhouse. One Head Start student responded to his mother when she asked how his first day went at the new school, “Great! It rained and it didn’t rain inside.” Another very hard decision for the Regina Coeli Board came in 1985 when they were asked by the Regional Office to consider expanding to Livingston Parish. Head Start services had never been provided in Livingston Parish, and once again, there was much disagreement among the board.

August and September, 2005 brought Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to the Gulf Coast and a year of challenges and opportunities that Regina Coeli had never faced before. Although the damages to the Centers were minimal, many of the employees either lost their homes or faced months of repairs to their homes. In spite of this the majority of the Centers reopened to serve children on September 8, 2005. RCCDC served more children than at any time before, over 2300 children. Many of the children evacuated with their families from the New Orleans area to the parishes served by RCCDC. The effects of the hurricanes impacted all of south Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and all over the United States. In addition to physical damages, the economic impact has continued throughout the area even into 2009. In addition, many people continue to suffer from mental stress related to the loss of property, business, family members, and even their former way of life. After serving as Executive Director of RCCDC for over 30 years, Judy Loyde retired in June, 2006.

For over 40 years, RCCDC has served thousands of children by promoting school readiness and preparing them for success. We want to know how we have made an impact on your life.

Regina Coeli Child Development Center is a non-profit corporation, which operates Head Start and Early Head Start programs in southeast Louisiana. Our program provides high-quality, comprehensive early childhood services to over 1,800 children and employs over 450 people in a five-parish area.

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