South Carolina First Steps

Reading together helps kids get ready for school. This Children's Awareness Month, try to spend 15 minutes each day reading with your child. Share your family's favorite read-aloud picks in the comments! 📚

Let's play outside today!🌳

Celebrate World Environment Day by getting outside with a backyard scavenger hunt or drawing pictures of bugs and butterflies with sidewalk chalk.

June is Children's Awareness Month and we're all in! Every child in South Carolina deserves to arrive at kindergarten healthy, happy, and ready to thrive. This month, join us as we celebrate the families, educators, and communities making that possible. Tag a parent or caregiver with a shoutout today! 💛

We're hiring a Director of Communications!

Are you a data-driven storyteller and a strategic communications leader? Do you want to use your expertise to increase public awareness of school readiness, strengthen stakeholder engagement, and promote participation in early childhood programs across South Carolina?

We're seeking a dynamic Director of Communications to serve as a key leader within our state’s comprehensive early childhood system. In this role, you will lead a high-performing team and spearhead collaborative strategies that connect our agency's resources with parents, legislators, media, 4K sites, and local partnerships across the state. This position is essential to our mission of directing $80M in funding to support children from birth through age 5, while also supporting the vital work of the Early Childhood Advisory Council.

What you’ll do:

Drive Data-Led Strategy and Innovation: Use data to design marketing and communication initiatives that yield measurable progress toward our five-year strategic goals and full utilization of the agency’s resources and services.

Engage Statewide Stakeholders: Build and maintain positive relationships with diverse partners, state agencies, media, and the State Board of Trustees.

Champion the Brand: Oversee brand management, program marketing, public information, and crisis communications.

Learn more and apply here: https://bit.ly/4x9DmZZ

To learn about other career opportunities, visit our jobs page at: https://www.scfirststeps.org/about-us/jobs/

Countdown to Kindergarten helps parents get to know their child’s future teacher through 1-on-1 visits. Marquita Kennedy, a teacher at Brooklyn Springs Elementary School 🏫, takes part in the initiative as a way to help inspire a lifelong love of learning.

Read more about Countdown to Kindergarten and Marquita’s story: https://www.scfirststeps.org/news-resources/igniting-a-love-of-learning-through-countdown-to-kindergarten/

The offices of South Carolina First Steps are closed today, Monday, May 26, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. We will reopen for normal business hours on Tuesday, May 27.

Meet Shayla! Shayla is a 4K Manager and brings over 20 years of experience in early education to this job. Her favorite part of the job is uplifting others and equipping them with tools for success.

She’s got it all: empathy ♥️, brains 🧠, and a deep commitment to children and families 😊

Find out more about the great work Shayla does with First Steps 4K: https://www.scfirststeps.org/what-we-do/programs/first-steps-4k/

Last week, SC First Steps hosted a legislative breakfast to thank members of the General Assembly for their continued support of South Carolina's young children and families. The event highlighted our 2025–2030 strategic plan, "All In for South Carolina's Young Children," which includes a statewide goal of at least 75% of children being kindergarten-ready by 2030. Thanks to all who attended, including state legislators, legislative staff, and executive directors from First Steps local partnerships, as we celebrate our collective progress and look towards our important work ahead.

Thanks to Parents as Teachers National Center for sharing this encouraging research out of South Carolina about the positive impact of home visiting.

SCFS helping at-risk families South Carolina First Steps is releasing the results of a landmark five-year independent evaluation of its Parents as Teachers home visiting program conducted by Child Trends in partnership with the

With the school year ending ☀️, make a plan for the next one! If your child will be 4 by the start of the upcoming school year, then you can apply for First Steps 4K.

Apply now: https://www.scfirststeps.org/what-we-do/programs/first-steps-4k/apply