News & Resources

South Carolina First Steps, the state’s public-private partnership for early childhood services, announced today that Ann Vandervliet has been named as its new executive director.

June 28, 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the creation of South Carolina First Steps.

The statewide platform has earned national recognition for helping families find and enroll in programs and services for children ages 0-5.

South Carolina First Steps today announced the kickoff of Countdown to Kindergarten, an annual initiative focused on preparing young children for success in school.

South Carolina First Steps, the state's early childhood agency, today announced the resignation of Georgia Mjartan as executive director, effective June 30, 2024. The Board of Trustees has appointed Mark Barnes, the agency's current director of administration, as interim executive director while a national search is conducted to identify a permanent successor.

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.