News & Resources

This April 4, the Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) invites South Carolinians to learn about the state's publicly funded preschool programs by visiting palmettoprek.org. Each year in April, Palmetto Pre-K Enrollment Day focuses attention on the importance of early education in preparing children for school and life success.

In observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, South Carolina First Steps today kicked off a statewide reading event for young children. The kick-off event, held at Edventure Children’s Museum, marks the beginning of the agency’s MLK Week of Service, which is organized annually by the First Steps AmeriCorps program.

South Carolina First Steps has awarded competitive grants totaling $763,270 to expand early childhood programs and services that promote healthy development and prepare children for success in school.

Parents as Teachers, the nation’s most replicated home visiting, early childhood development, and parenting education program, has appointed Georgia Mjartan, executive director of South Carolina First Steps and the South Carolina Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC), to its national Board of Directors where she will serve a three-year term.

South Carolina First Steps announces the launch of the 2023 Countdown to Kindergarten initiative. With approximately 50,000 children expected to embark on their kindergarten journey this fall in South Carolina's public schools, this statewide effort helps to ensure that every child is ready for success from day one.

A new child care center answers a demand for accessible and high-quality early education in Kershaw, Lancaster, and Chesterfield counties.

At first5sc.org, families can now check their child's eligibility for more than 40 programs and, using information they already entered, apply for multiple programs at once.

South Carolina First Steps has announced the appointment of five new members to its Board of Trustees and the SC Early Childhood Advisory Council.

Two new members have joined the South Carolina First Steps Board of Trustees and South Carolina Early Childhood Advisory Council.