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“Serving the Community Since 1995”
CALL US: 717-517-8470
ABOUT US
Steps to Success was incorporated in January 1995 as a not-for-profit educational institution. The co-founders were Michelle Straw and Chris Lawson. Steps began service to the Leola community on September 19, 1995 in the basement of the Upper Leacock War Memorial Building. Our beginning enrollment was 21 children. The founders were invited to a round table discussion about state regulations in child care in the Spring of 1996 by the Department of Public Welfare.
In 1999, Steps to Success received a grant to develop separate infant/toddler and preschool/school-age playgrounds.
On July 5, 2000, we began child care in the Upper Leacock Township Building with 96 children enrolled.
The Board of Directors voted to add a Christian curriculum in January 2001 with the support of families and staff.
A Memorial playground is envisioned with donations made in the memory of Anne Persons Robinson during 2006.
In 2007, PACCA named Pre-K teacher, Mrs. Melissa Readman, their Educator of the Year.
In September 2011, Steps to Success was awarded a STAR 4 rating through the Keystone STARS quality initiative.
A public private partnership is formed with Conestoga Valley School District to offer Pre-Kindergarten to 34 CV families. This program was funded through the five year Keystones to Opportunity grant starting in 2012-2013.
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In August 2020, during the COVID pandemic, Steps to Success added a partnership with Conestoga Valley School District to run before and after school programs in their elementary buildings.
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In March 2021, Steps to Success relocated the child care center to the Education Wing of Zion Lutheran Church.
As of August 2022, Steps to Success opened a 5th school age program in Donegal School District!
Let's Connect
717-656-3363
What are we up to?
A Commitment to Constant and Never-Ending Improvement
Steps to Success, Inc. was founded to invest in the future. At Steps, we believe the best way to do that is to nurture the children today. By planting good seeds in good soil, we contribute to the present and the future. The founders of Steps believe that children are best served when they are allowed to be children. Regimens of rote learning and grim force-fed lessons have no place with us. We believe that children need love before loose leaf, security before phonics, and fun before homework. A child who grows up knowing that he's loved is more likely to indulge his imagination, allow himself to play, and to dream.
Dreamers often accomplish wonderful things.
We are a non-profit, Christian day care center. The rightful beneficiaries of the center's tuition are the children.
The founders, staff, and board members of Steps to Success, Inc. have committed to the constant and never-ending improvement of the center and its personnel. Our goal is to improve what we do, how we do it, by just 1% every day. All of us welcome the challenges that come with our lofty goals: to create and maintain a center that always looks for ways to grow, to maintain a dedicated staff, and to care for children in the healthiest, happiest environment available.
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