Lexington County First Steps

The mission of Lexington County First Steps (LCFS) is to provide the means for all children residing in the county to be ready to learn when they begin first grade. Needs assessments are performed periodically to determine what programs would best serve our population. LCFS then determines the most appropriate programs to offer, and partners with the county's 5 school districts and other agencies to provide these services, at no charge to the recipients.

Lexington County First Steps (LCFS) is a 501(c)(3) organization under the umbrella of South Carolina First Steps, a nonprofit organization recently converted into a State agency. LCFS operates several programs designed to ensure all children residing in our county are ready to learn when they begin 1st grade. The programs offered are delivered through home visitation models, primarily Parents as Teachers (PAT), an evidence-based curriculum coordinated across the county with each of the 5 school districts. Another home visitation model, evidence informed, is Countdown to Kindergarten (CTK). In CTK a child's 1st grade teacher-to-be makes 6 home visits in the summer prior to the child's entry into public school. Both PAT and CTK are long-standing services in partnership with our 5 districts. There is an age-appropriate lesson plan associated with each visit; however, the social and emotional development is the primary emphasis of the visits and results in improved Kindergarten Readiness Assessment scores. The third program is PASOs, a service to new immigrant families, mostly Spanish-speaking Latinos, in our county needing navigational instruction on accessing needed services.

Testimonials

1. I did not know what "ready for school" meant until Miss (Parent Educator) explained it.
2. My daughter and me are not scared about starting school like I was with my son when he started.
3. One Countdown to Kindergarten child who did not know his alphabet nor how to write or recognize his printed name, shouted "That's my cubby hole!" when he recognized his printed name across the classroom on the first day of school.