Step Up Scholarship Resources
Making quality education affordable for all families
At First Phase Core Academy, we partner with programs like Step Up for Students, School Readiness, Head Start, and VPK to provide tuition assistance and early learning opportunities for eligible families.
Step Up For Students Scholarship Resource Videos
Covers tuition, fees, and other educational costs for qualifying students.
Scholarships Include:
- Florida Tax Credit Scholarship
- Family Empowerment Scholarship (Educational Options)
- PEP (Personalized Education Program)
- Unique Abilities Scholarship
StepUpForStudents.org. “Step up for Students Resources Videos .” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Apr. 2009, www.youtube.com/@stepup4students.
School Readiness (SR)
Florida School Readiness Program offers financial aid for early education and care to low-income families. It helps families financially self-sufficient while ensuring quality care and education for their young children. Services vary based on individual needs.
Benefits of the School Readiness program:
- Prepares young children to start kindergarten.
- Helps working families afford quality early care.
- Keeps parents working and/or continuing an education.
- Helps families become financially independent.
The School Readiness program was first created in 1999. Today, the Florida Office of Early Learning controls the reimbursement of funds, and in partnership with the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County, 4C provides this assistance to Central Florida families.
Eligibility Requirements
There are three specific eligibility requirements for the School Readiness program:
- Parents(s) or guardian(s) must be working and/or attending school (college or trade) at least 20 hours a week OR disabled, as determined and documented by a licensed physician.
- Gross income must be at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level for family size.
- Families must pay a co-payment for child care costs (based on income and family size).
School Readiness funds are intended to help income-eligible families. But they may also include recipients of temporary cash assistance who meet federal work requirements; families with at-risk children of abuse, neglect or abandonment; homeless parents, parents who are victims of domestic violence; teenage parents; low-income migrant families or farm workers; or families of children with disabilities and special health care needs.
Learn How to Apply
Watch these videos to learn how to open a Florida Office of Early Learning Family Portal account and how to complete a School Readiness application.
Family Portal Logon
EFS Modernization Project Training Video Series. (Florida’s Office of Early Learning)
School Readiness application on OEL Family Portal
A look at the School Readiness child care financial assistance application on the Florida Office of Early Learning Family Portal.
The Head Start Advantage
This 18-minute documentary film explores the lives of Head Start students, parents, teachers, and alumni working to envision and create a better world for all Americans. Watch the film and you’ll get to know Head Start families throughout the country and see first-hand how the program has given more than 33 million Americans a head start on their education.
In the film, we meet Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation; Sylvia Acevedo, Interim CEO of Girl Scouts of America; and Cornell William Brooks, President of the NAACP, all Head Start alumni and lifelong advocates for the program. Collectively, they paint a moving picture of Head Start’s enormous impact as an investment in our nation’s greatest resource: our children. It takes a visual dive into the findings of five decades of early childhood education research vividly illustrating how education begins at birth.
Find out more about Head Start at www.nhsa.org.
Thank you, Daydream Reels (DaydreamReels.org), for producing the documentary!
Voluntary PreKindergarten (VPK)
VPK is a free program for all 4-year-olds in Florida, regardless of income. It provides high-quality learning materials tailored to your child’s development to prepare them for school. Take advantage of this opportunity to give your child a strong academic foundation
Eligibility Requirements
Voluntary Prekindergarten is free for all children who are 4 years old on or before Sept. 1, reside in Florida, and who are not participating in the Gardiner Scholarship Program. Parents whose children are born from Feb. 2 through Sept. 1 of a calendar year may choose to enroll their child in VPK in either the school year their child turns 4 or the next.
Program Options
- School-Year Program – 540 hours, small class sizes
- Summer Program – 300 hours, small class sizes
- Specialized Instructional Services (SIS) – for children with IEPs
For more information, visit the Florida Early Learning VPK website.
ENROLL FOR VOLUNTARY PREKINDERGARTEN
Community Coordinated Care for Children, Inc. “Home Voluntary PreKindergarten (VPK).” Community Coordinated Care for Children Inc 4C, Community Coordinated Care for Children, Inc. , Accessed on 4 June 2024, 4cflorida.org/parents/voluntary-pre-kindergarten-vpk/.