SAN JOSE, CA – Today, September 28, 2020, Santa Clara County Office of Education announced the official launch of the Steps to Success, Early Learning Attendance and Enrollment Campaign designed to improve enrollment and attendance rates in early learning programs throughout Santa Clara County.
With funding provided by a grant from the Morgan Family Foundation (MFF), the Steps to Success campaign seeks to raise public awareness about the benefits of enrolling and regularly attending early learning programs. The campaign is structured to increase enrollment and attendance in publicly funded Preschool (Pre-K), Transitional Kindergarten (T-K), and Kindergarten programs.
Steps to Success is a phased implementation of public awareness strategies and tools beginning with the development of an online portal for parents to enroll children, with aims to increase school enrollment by first improving the methods and channels for how parents can register their children for T-K, Pre-K and Kindergarten. The first phase also includes a Steps to Success website with resources and information about early learning options in Santa Clara County. The next phase will include strategic collateral and messaging placed across high-visibility media channels as well as continued development of both online platforms. The goal of each phase is to provide the community with centralized access to information about early learning.
“Children who attend early learning programs develop important cognitive, social, and emotional skills for future learning and Kindergarten readiness. As a result, they are more likely to be proficient readers by the end of 3rd grade, more likely to attend college, and more likely to have increased life time earnings, among many other long-term positive impacts, in both academics and life,” said Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Mary Ann Dewan. “With Steps to Success, parents will find the information needed for enrollment to be able to register children for school. We are very grateful to the Morgan Family Foundation for their commitment and support to ensure that every child in our county has a strong foundation for success in life.”
Parents are encouraged to visit the Steps to Success website where they can learn about the importance of attendance and early learning, understand the difference between Pre-K, T-K and Kindergarten as well as find the county’s Resource and Referral portal. Announced in July, families can access the portal to create an account and submit applications for early learning programs in Santa Clara County. In partnership with the Inclusion Collaborative, the portal also provides information about programs that support children with disabilities.
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About the Santa Clara County Office of Education
Working collaboratively with school and community partners, the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) is a regional service agency that provides instructional, business, and technology services to the 31 school districts of Santa Clara County. The County Office of Education directly serves students through special education programs, alternative schools, Head Start and State Preschool programs, migrant education, and Opportunity Youth Academy. The SCCOE also provides academic and fiscal oversight and monitoring to districts in addition to the 22 Santa Clara County Board of Education authorized charter schools.