LOXLEY, Ala. — It’s a handsome building just of County Road 68 in Loxley. Several “portable” buildings have been converted into modern classrooms, connected with an attractive wooden walkway and covered deck, tricked out with benches and tables, perfect for children to play on in bad weather.

But more than play is scheduled for that covered walkway.

The center is one of the newest Head Start centers in the area, and is run by the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project.

The center is especially designed to assist families who come to the area to help with Baldwin County’s three growing seasons of crops, and is slated to open in April.

“We are expecting at least 96 children,” said Jill Dabbs, the center’s early childhood education coordinator. “The children will be at least six weeks (old) to school age.”

The center, Dabbs says, is licensed by the state of Alabama’s Department of Human Resources.

Head Start, according to the program’s Web site is a “… national program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families.”

One of the reasons ECMHSP has set up shop in the area is because Dabbs says there are more than 1000 farms in Baldwin county.

“The program is not just education,” Dabbs said, explaining that children in the program and their families would receive health education, and the families would be able to access health and dental care. Parenting classes will also be offered, Dabbs said.

Instruction will be in both English and Spanish.

“We will do stories in English and Spanish,” Dabbs said. “Everything is done in both languages. It’s important to support the home culture while improving (children’s) readiness for school.”

The CEO of ECMHSP, Rafael Guerra, was himself a former migrant worker, so management of the program knows just how important it can be to families, Dabbs added.

Parents also know how important this school can be, says Linda Baker, the center’s director. “I was (at another ECMHSP center) and parents stood in line to say ‘thank you.’ Never in my years as a public school principal did that happen.”

The program is important, Baker says, because the children will eventually “hit public schools.”

“We want them ready for kindergarten,” said Baker.

And while parents do their best, sometimes the children’s homes lack the educational stimulation that some of us take for granted.

“When children do not have access to books, toys or enough interaction with people their educational growth is diminished.” Baker said. “We see the children blossom in a very short time in the East Coast Migrant Head Start Programs.”

The center’s students are a bit like butterflies, Dabbs says.

“We had a project where children raised butterflies,” said Dabbs. “We let them go before school ended. Our children are let go by their first teachers, the parents. By the time they leave us they are ready to go to the next level.”