Our Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) Program is expanding!

HIPPY is a home visiting program that supports parents in their role as a child’s first teacher. 

Every week for 30 weeks, a trained parent educator will visit families of young child in their homes. Visits are guided by a curriculum designed to equip parents with the skills and tools necessary to help their children succeed.   

Through the HIPPY Program, Anderson County First Steps (ACFS) served 17 families in the Belton-Honea Path area (Anderson County School District 2) during FY26 and completed 510 home visits. This service area was the only HIPPY site to meet all required program outputs for the year.

ACFS invested $64,650 in the Anderson County HIPPY Program during FY26, supporting evidence-based home visitation services that strengthen school readiness and family engagement.

Building on this success, ACFS has expanded the HIPPY Program into the Pendleton and Starr-Iva communities in FY27 (Anderson County Districts 3 & 4).  As a result, the program is expected to increase the number of families served from 17 to 48, representing a projected 182% growth in reach across Anderson County.

Contact:

Anderson County First Steps Partnership Office: 

864-222-0410

Reach Out and Read (ROR) is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve family literacy through pediatric care settings. The program gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care settings and encouraging families to read aloud together. The intended outcomes are more frequent reading at home and improvements in children's language development. ACFS supports one ROR site in Anderson County.    

The numbers tell a compelling story about how Anderson County’s investment is helping Reach Out and Read (ROR) connect young children and families with books and early literacy support.

Between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026, Anderson County recorded 16,906 well-child visits for children from birth through age five. Using well-child visits as a proxy for the number of children served, ROR estimates that approximately 8,453 young children were reached through the program during the year.

Anderson County First Steps invested $10,000 in ROR during FY26. That investment helped support an estimated 1,375 children and provided 2,541 books to local children and families.

The impact of this investment extended well beyond the dollars contributed. While Anderson County First Steps provided 7% of total program funding, its support helped reach a substantial number of children and funded approximately 16% of the program’s annual book budget. Through this strategic investment, Anderson County First Steps played a meaningful role in expanding access to books and promoting early childhood literacy across the county. 

Contact:

Anderson County First Steps Partnership Office: 

864-222-0410

The mission of Raising a Reader is to engage families in a routine of daily "book-cuddling" with their children to foster healthy brain development, parent-child bonding, and early literacy skills critical for school success. It is effective in increasing children's oral language and print knowledge when implemented in conjunction with parent literacy training. Its components include informal professional development for early childhood educators, a weekly book rotation, parent engagement, child-driven literacy experiences, and library experiences.

This program is implemented in Anderson School Districts One, Two, Three, and Four..

Contact:  

Anderson School District 1 - Areas Served - Powdersville, Williamston - Dr. Karen Sweat (sweatk@apps.anderson1.org)

Anderson School District 2 - Areas Served - Belton, Honea Path - Allison Strickland (astrickland@asd2)

Anderson School District Three - Areas Served - Starr, Iva, Flat Rock - Melissa Davis 

(davism@acsd3.org)

Anderson School District 4 - Areas Served - Pendleton, Townville - Charity Walker (CLWalker@anderson4.org)

Countdown to Kindergarten (CTK) and Countdown to 4K are summer home visitation model programs connecting rising 4-year-old and 5-year-old kindergartners and their families with their future teachers. The program is designed: to forge strong and lasting home-school relationships, to acquaint children and families with classroom expectations, to increase parent involvement in the early grades in hard-to-reach communities, and to increase public awareness of the importance of school readiness and provide ways for parents and communities to impact children’s early school success.  Countdown to Kindergarten (countdownsc.org)

This program is implemented in Anderson School Districts One, Two, Three, and Four.

Contact:

Anderson County First Steps Partnership Office: 

864-222-0410

Anderson School District 1 - Areas Served - Powdersville, Williamston - Dr. Karen Sweat (sweatk@apps.anderson1.org)

Anderson School District 2 - Areas Served - Belton, Honea Path - Allison Strickland (astrickland@asd2.org)

Anderson School District 3 - Areas Served - Starr, Iva -  Melissa Davis 

(davism@acsd3.org)

Anderson School District 4 - Areas Served - Pendleton, Townville - Charity Walker (CLWalker@anderson4.org

The Positive Parenting program (Triple P) linked to Family Literacy offers an integrated and family-friendly approach, helping both parents and children to improve their literacy skills. Family literacy services integrate all of the following:
1. Adult Education
2. Early Childhood Education
3. Parent Education
4. Interactive Parent/Child Activities

This program is implemented in Anderson School Districts Two, Three, and Four.

Contact:

Anderson School District 2 - Areas Served - Belton, Honea Path - Allison Strickland (astrickland@asd2.org)

Anderson School District 3 - Areas Served - Starr, Iva -  Melissa Davis 

(davism@acsd3.org) 

Anderson School District 4 - Areas Served - Pendleton, Townville - Charity Walker (CLWalker@anderson4.org)

Anderson School District One provides high-quality early education programs serving an additional 40 at-risk 4K students in two half-day classes which are located at Spearman Elementary School. This program adheres to all SC Department of Education guidelines, serves the most at-risk, and follows best practices including the implementation of High Scope, Creative Curriculum, and Early Childhood Education Rating Scale.
Each student must be four-years-old on or before September 1, eligible for free- or reduced-price school lunches, and/or eligible for Medicaid, and/or qualify for services under IDEA Part B as the result of a documented disability or developmental delay.

Contact:  

Anderson School District 1 - Areas Served - Powdersville, Williamston - Dr. Karen Sweat (sweatk@apps.anderson1.org)

South Carolina First Steps offers you the opportunity to enroll your eligible child in a FREE quality 4-year-old kindergarten program for the upcoming school year. Our statewide network of private, community, and faith-based centers is committed to providing a healthy and safe learning environment and preparing your child for school success. All First Steps 4K providers adhere to CDC, DSS, and DHEC childcare regulations to ensure the utmost safety for all children and adults inside the building.

To qualify, your child must: 

• Be 4 years old on or before Sept.1. 
• Be eligible for Medicaid, free- or reduced-price lunch program, SNAP/TANF recipient OR be experiencing homelessness, transiency, or in foster care.
• Be a South Carolina Resident

Contact:

Anderson County First Steps Partnership Office: 

864-222-0410 

Early childhood development support during pediatric well-child visits.  

Healthy Steps is designed to serve children 0 to 3 and their families, especially in communities where there are persistent inequities.   

All pediatric patients age 0-3 at participating clinics receive  Healthy Steps services from a trained child development expert, the Healthy Steps Specialist. Families with additional needs may receive more intensive services. 

Contact:

Prisma Health - Pediatrics Associates Powdersville

207 Three Bridges Rd.
Greenville, SC 29611 

Contact:

Anderson County First Steps Partnership Office: 

864-222-0410