Educational First Steps

EFS partners with child care centers that serve economically disadvantaged children and families, to help them deliver high-quality early childhood development and learning, and to sustain their operations in a challenging environment. We mentor and train center directors and teachers to fulfill their potential as education professionals, and bring related services to support quality, at no cost to the centers or the families they serve. We now serve more than 105 centers in five North Texas counties and work weekly with 900 teachers and directors who serve over 6,700 children. More than half of our partner centers have reached a quality level to earn national accreditation and the rest are well on the way to accreditation. Over 90% of children's social-emotional and brain development happen before kindergarten. For many economically disadvantaged children, a high-quality early learning provider offers their best opportunity to build a foundation for success in school and life. Economists estimate that $1 invested in early childhood education returns at least $7 from the children accomplishing more as adults and from avoided social costs such as public subsidies and prison. By transforming day cares into early learning centers, EFS represents one of the highest impact investments to improve education and eliminate poverty.