The Head Start and Early Head Start program at 2240 Encinitas Boulevard, operated by Easterseals Southern California, provides federally funded early-childhood education for income-eligible children from birth through age five in the Encinitas and Solana Beach service area. A state-of-the-art Child Development Center opened in 2024 with nine large classrooms, an inclusive outdoor learning area, a full prep kitchen, a vegetable garden, and a parent observation room — the only Head Start and Early Head Start facility in the Leucadia-Encinitas-Solana Beach corridor, serving as a public-sector counterpart to private early-childhood enrollment at The Rhoades Preschool. Half-day, full-day, and home-visiting program options accommodate families with varied work schedules under federal Head Start Performance Standards. Health screenings, dental referrals, and developmental assessments are built into the enrollment process under Head Start's mandatory comprehensive-services framework, linking each child to a medical home within the North County pediatric network that includes Children's Primary Care Medical Group. The center holds California Community Care License #376700929 with a maximum capacity of 70 children, and an infant outdoor learning area is under construction to extend the Early Head Start program to the birth-through-two age cohort.