NMSU Head Start marks turnaround with record enrollment
NMSU Head Start leaders say the program has emerged from federal probation with 99% enrollment, expanded services and a renewed focus on Doña Ana County families.
The program sustained 99% enrollment during the 2025-26 academic year, serving 155 children across 11 classrooms in five locations.
Carlos Carrillo López, New Mexico State University
LAS CRUCES - Research shows that kids who participate in early childhood education programs like Head Start are more likely to complete high school, pursue higher education and become economically self-sufficient adults.
For more than 40 years, New Mexico State University has administered Head Start programs throughout New Mexico’s second-largest county, playing a critical role in children’s growth from birth to age 5 through services centered around early learning and development, health and family well-being. Now under new leadership, NMSU Head Start is ushering in a new era of success.
The longstanding relationship between NMSU and NMSU Head Start is rare among Head Start programs. Out of the estimated 1,600 organizations administering Head Start nationwide, only a small fraction are higher education institutions. NMSU’s College of Health, Education and Social Transformation is one of roughly 60 universities or colleges in the United States that have formal partnerships with Head Start.
The university-run Head Start model has been instrumental to the success of NMSU Head Start over its 41-year history. But enrollment started declining in 2019 — and only worsened during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
By the time Zaira Falliner became the director of NMSU Head Start in 2024, the program had been placed on probation by the federal Office of Head Start. Faced with low enrollment and high staff turnover, Falliner spent much of her early days working with Dawn Gonzales, NMSU Head Start’s chief financial officer, to stabilize the program and bring it back into federal compliance.
“The first year coming on was making sure we survived,” Falliner said. “One of our big successes in my first year was that we resubmitted our five-year grant proposal to the Office of Head Start to make sure our schools and classrooms would receive enough funding. Once OHS accepted our proposal, we got out of our probationary period.”
Ava Armstead-Cozart joined then joined the program in 2025 to serve as its principal investigator and as an assistant professor in the College of HEST, bringing more than 20 years of Head Start experience. Together, she and Falliner restructured the program and engineered a remarkable turnaround.
Today, they are focused on growing the Head Start and Early Head Start programs, adapting them to meet the unique needs of Doña Ana County, and introducing a host of new wraparound services for families as well as afterschool programs. Enrollment also hit a new milestone: During the 2025-2026 academic year, the program sustained 99% enrollment, reaching a record number of children – 155 students across 11 classrooms in five locations.
“Strengthening our leadership model and increasing our community engagement were pivotal to improving our visibility,” Armstead-Cozart said. “We are where we are today because of our dedicated team and support from the College of HEST.”
Carlos Carrillo López writes for New Mexico State University Marketing and Communications and can be reached at 575-646-1955, or by email at carlopez@nmsu.edu.
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