March 9, 2026–Community Action Partnership of Greater St. Joseph, Missouri Western State University and the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting at the newly expanded Head Start facility in Wilson Hall on the MoWest Campus at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 10.
Head Start and Early Head Start programs support the mental, social, and emotional development of children from birth to age 5. Early Head Start also consists of the prenatal program for expecting mothers. In addition to education services, CAP St. Joe Head Start provides children and their families with health, nutrition, social, and other services.
CAP St. Joe Head Start moved to campus in the fall of 2023, and has expanded several times since then, increasing access to early childhood services for infants, toddlers and families in the region. Upgrades include food service upgrades, outdoor learning improvements and the addition of two Early Head Start classrooms (for children from birth to age 3).
The partnership between CAPSTJOE and MoWest provides applied learning opportunities for MoWest students in education, nursing, social work and psychology programs, who gain real-world classroom experience while supporting early childhood development programs.
“This program represents the best of what MoWest strives to do,” said Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy. “Through our partnership with Community Action Partnership of Greater St. Joseph, we are supporting young children and families in our region while creating real-world learning opportunities for the future educators, social workers, nurses and psychologists studying here at MoWest.”
Recent grant funding of more than $630,000 has allowed for improvements to the facility including the addition of an outdoor learning environment and updates to the food service area. The February expansion allows the program to serve more local families.
“This ribbon cutting celebrates the growth of the program since coming to campus in 2023,” Kayla Marmaud said. “With expanded Early Head Start classrooms and new outdoor learning and food service improvements, we’re continuing to strengthen services for local children and families.”
For more information about Head Start services, call CAP St. Joe at 816-233-8281.
Missouri Western State University is a student-centered learning community preparing individuals for lives of excellence through applied learning. MoWest is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit missouriwestern.edu.