Our impact is the American Dream. Scientific data as well as personal stories show us time and again that an individual’s best chance of rising out of poverty is education and opportunity: A Stepping Stone  provides both to the child and the parent. After high school we continue to support our students on their road to success with a college scholarship.

Since 1989, A Stepping Stone Foundation has served more than 1800 families. In a typical year, A Stepping Stone Foundation’s direct family literacy capacity is 40 families per year; that’s 40 three- and four-year-old children, up to 23 younger siblings (for childcare), and at least 40 adults.

This past 2019-2020 year, A Stepping Stone served 42 unique families (36 of them for 6 months or more). Also, for the past six years, the Foundation has been serving 30 participants in the Stepping Into College fall event and awarding an average of 30 college scholarships to former preschoolers per year. Finally, there are two annual job training positions at the Stepping Stone Office where former preschoolers can obtain their first paid work experience.

LEAF Impact

During the 2019-2020 school year, LEAF accomplishments include educating 45 families (149 individuals) throughout the school year at two Phoenix sites (3101 W. McDowell Road on the Bret Tarver Isaac Preschool Campus and 4711 N. 23rd Ave at Westwood Elementary School). Last year (2019-2020), of the 45 unique families served, 36 were active participants on a week-day basis for six months or more.

On March 17th, due to COVID19 restrictions, our LEAF program closed prematurely for the program year.  At that time, all the children in the program were on track to meet their TSG benchmarks indicating they were ready for kindergarten and all parents showed improvement in their English and parenting skills.

Since 1990, more than 1,800 families who have preschool-aged children have been served, representing approximately 4,000 individuals who have experienced our year-long program.

Scholarship

In the spring of 2021, $44,300 in college scholarships were awarded to 37 former preschoolers who were attending post-secondary education. These students attend accredited institutions including: ASU, NAU, UA, Maricopa County Community Colleges and a variety of other accredited instructions in Arizona and the United States. Since 2003, more than $275,000 has been awarded to 138 distinct students. Click here to view more details of our scholarship impact.

Two Generation Education Affinity Group

Since 2017, A Stepping Stone Foundation has convened quarterly meetings for practitioners, policy makers, funders and elected officials who have interest in intergenerational education work. In 2019-2020, we met at various sites including the Arizona Capitol. This is an open forum for civil dialogue.

Internship

We continue working with our office interns who had been preschoolers in our program and are now in college. In 2020-2021, both interns graduated with their AA and are continuing their studies in nursing. Since 2012, there have been nine interns (all former LEAF preschoolers) who are working or have worked in our office.

Long Term Impact

More than 130 different people are directly affected throughout the year, taking into account immediate family members; parents and preschoolers on a daily basis on school days throughout the year (home visits on Friday). There are additional secondary recipients of the program including neighbors who live near enrolled families who benefit from the “spill-over” of increased knowledge about the importance of early childhood development, increased self-esteem and the value of life-long education. The local school district also benefits by having better prepared kindergartners and parents who are already trained and motivated to volunteer at the school and become active in site based decision making.