“The best evidence suggests that learning begets learning, that early investments in learning are effective. As a society, we cannot afford to postpone investing in children until they become adults, nor can we wait until they reach school age—a time when it may be too late to intervene.”

James J. Heckman, Ph.D. and Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences | Professor of Economics and Director, Center for the Economics of Human Development, University of Chicago

What We Do

Our Programs

Quality Counts

Quality Counts is an initiative that supports continuous quality improvement in early care and eduation programs with the goal that ALL children will arrive at school prepared for kindergarten success.
For more information click here.

Early Head Start

Spartanburg County First Steps facilitates community collaborations, partnerships, effective resource utilization and funding to promote school-readiness and family well being.
For more information click here.

Nurse-Family Partnership

The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) of Spartanburg, Cherokee, and Union Counties has a very simple, over-arching goal: helping first-time parents succeed.
For more information click here.

The Franklin School

The Franklin School is a community collaborative model child development center with a curriculum built to enhance early learning through discovery.
For more information click here.

PASOs

Spartanburg First Steps is partnering with Upstate Family Resource Center through an SC First Steps READY grant to expand the existing PASOs program. PASOS helps build a stronger South Carolina by supporting Latino communities with education, advocacy, and leadership development. For more information click here.

Countdown to Kindergarten

Countdown to Kindergarten is designed to increase family awareness of kindergarten expectations, create positive home-school relationships, and ensure a smooth transition to school. Spartanburg First Steps has partnered with this program since 2019. For more information click here

What Drives Us

Our Mission

Spartanburg County First Steps mission is to help all young children in our county arrive at school ready to learn and prepared for success.   To accomplish that we:

  • Support evidenced-based programs that are designed to strengthen families and support children’s growth and development during the first 5 years of life.

  • Build trusting relationships with early learning centers using a model of continuous improvement that helps to build and sustain high-quality learning environments.

  • Collaborate with community partners to maximize our efforts and to increase our impact positively on school readiness.

Get Involved

Spartanburg County First Steps works with local businesses, nonprofits, churches, and schools to help all children enter school ready to thrive. This means we support events throughout the year in support of school readiness and the importance of a quality early childhood. If you would like to join us at one or more of these events, let us know by clicking here.

Upcoming Events

Board of Directors Meeting

March 20, 2024
4:30 PM
The Franklin School
100 Franklin St.
Spartanburg, SC

Our Impact

51

Child Care

Providers Served

7278

Number of children and adults served by Spartanburg County First Steps in 2019-2020

For more information about our impact on Spartanburg County check out our Annual Report.

2589

Number of children 0-5
enrolled in provider classrooms

Donate Today

The prosperity of Spartanburg County depends on our ability to support quality early education for future generations. Help a child enter school ready to learn and grow!

A donation today is a step toward a healthier, smarter, and stronger community tomorrow.

The

Latest

Annual Meeting

Join us for our Annual Meeting! Come learn about our program’s achievements over the past year, bid farewell to our outgoing Executive Director, and give a warm welcome to our incoming Executive Director. Don’t miss this chance to be part of our journey!

 

Support Early Literacy in Spartanburg County

Hello, dear readers!

I’m Tammy Compton, the Quality Counts Program Director for Spartanburg County First Steps. Our mission is to partner with early care programs to create high-quality learning environments for children from birth to age five. Today, I’m reaching out to you with a heartfelt appeal. read more…

Our Approach

High Quality programs and services for children and families.

Intensive training, resources, and support for childcare providers

Strategic Partnerships and community education

Spartanburg County First Steps
900 South Pine St.
Suite C
Spartanburg, SC 29307
864-327-4900
info@spartanburgfirststeps.org