Legislation and determination have successfully driven the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County, Inc. since its humble beginnings as the School Readiness Coalition in 1999.

Community leaders spearheaded a grassroots effort to meet the needs of St. Lucie County’s young children, working with School Readiness Statute 411, which created the SR Coalition and held it responsible for serving children birth - 5 in order to prepare them for kindergarten.  All prekindergarten programs in the St. Lucie County School system and the subsidized childcare programs moved under the direction of the SR Coalition.

Key community leaders in St. Lucie County combined efforts to create an independent yet effective system for delivering programs that served as the foundation for a curriculum addressing pre-academic skills, physical & mental health and parenting skills.  At the same time, they worked towards enhancing the quality of preschool programs, creating a system of childcare and providing school readiness services on a full day, full year basis.

When the School Readiness Coalition transitioned into the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County in 2005, services once contracted to several agencies, were brought in-house. That year Governor Bush signed into law a bill calling for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK) to be available to every eligible 4-year-old child at no cost to parents. 

Today, the Early Learning Coalition provides families with all quality early learning and school readiness experiences for children birth - 5 through our School Readiness and voluntary prekindergarten programs, as well as childcare referrals and resources for all families.

The Family Portal and Provider Services Portal may see service interuptions while the Office of Early Learning (OEL) Statewide Information System(SIS) is undergoing an upgrade.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.