Driving Early Results in Spartanburg, South Carolina

Building the Foundation for Lifelong Success

Early childhood outcomes shape the trajectory of lifelong success. When children start kindergarten ready to learn, they are more likely to read proficiently by third grade — a milestone that predicts high school graduation, postsecondary attainment and long-term health. Communities that invest early, from prenatal care through age 8, lay the groundwork for thriving families and stronger economies.

The importance of early-grade reading extends far beyond classrooms. Adults who score at minimum proficiency in literacy earn an average of $63,000 annually, while those below proficiency earn just $48,000. A longitudinal study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that students reading at or above grade level in third grade graduate from high school and attend college at higher rates than peers who fall behind. Children who are not reading proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to leave high school without a diploma, and for children from low-income families, that risk rises to thirteen times higher. These outcomes show that early literacy is not just an education issue but an economic one that shapes opportunity for entire communities.

In Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM) is proving what’s possible when a community takes a place-based approach to early outcomes. Place-based partnerships bring together schools, nonprofits, health providers and local government to align systems, data and resources around shared results. “Our mission is simple,” said Russell Booker, SAM’s CEO. “We want to ensure that children in Spartanburg have academic and life success. And we do that by convening our partners, aligning resources and really driving opportunity in service of children and families across our community.”

That mission carries urgency. In neighborhoods served by Cleveland Academy of Leadership, 92% of students live in poverty and 77% experience transiency. “Our kids face challenges that extend beyond the classroom,” said Principal Marquice Clark. “We have to address those barriers holistically.”

In more rural parts of Spartanburg County, such as District 3, families face a different challenge: access. “Some of our parents drive half an hour just to find care,” said Windy Hodge, chief academic officer for District 3. “That’s a real burden for families who are already stretched thin.”

The data reveal the stakes. Only 48% of Spartanburg’s children enter kindergarten ready to learn. For Dr. Booker, that statistic defines the work ahead: “When we think about economic mobility, it begins with early outcomes. That’s where we set the foundation.”

Coordinated Strategies for Early Success

Building a Connected System of Family Support

Hello Family is a collaborative initiative improving outcomes for young children and their families by connecting them to supports from pregnancy through age 5. Focused on the years when brain development is most rapid, Hello Family strengthens the foundation for lifelong learning and success.

The effort began in 2015, when the City of Spartanburg, the Mary Black Foundation and the Institute for Child Success identified that too many children were entering kindergarten unprepared to learn. By 2021, community partners used outcomes financing to launch a suite of services focused on birth outcomes, early development, and kindergarten readiness. Hello Family officially launched in 2022, funding four local organizations and introducing a hotline that connects families to home visiting, doula care and quality child care programs.

Now a strategic initiative of the Spartanburg Academic Movement, Hello Family serves as a cornerstone of the community’s Movement 2030 plan, aligning early childhood systems and expanding access countywide. In 2023–2024, Hello Family supported more than 400 mothers through coordinated services, contributing to healthier births and a measurable reduction in premature deliveries.

“When families fall through the cracks, we all lose,” said Taylor Dockter, SAM’s director of early childhood strategy. “Hello Family prevents that.” Through collective action, Spartanburg is ensuring every child starts strong and ready to learn.

Expanding Access to 3-K

In District 3, the expansion of 3-year-old kindergarten has been a game-changer. Using Movement 2030 and federal grant dollars, the district grew its 3-K program from one classroom to four, increasing capacity from 15 to 60 students. The results speak for themselves. On 2024 i-Ready assessments, students who attended 3-K outperformed their peers by 15 percentage points in English language arts (69% proficiency) and 25 percentage points in math (77% proficiency).

For families like Sally Bridges’, the program has been transformational. As a mother of six, Bridges has seen how early learning changes trajectories. Her daughter entered 3-K with a speech delay and quickly began to thrive through early intervention and consistent support. “Now in kindergarten, she’s thriving,” Bridges said. “Her speech is a lot better. She’s confident. She’s able to communicate with her teachers. She loves going to school. It’s not something that holds her back. I truly feel like the early intervention of getting in the school early with the 3-K program is what helped really mold her start for school.”

The experience was so positive that her youngest daughter followed in her sister’s footsteps — gaining independence, learning to share and finding joy in school from the very start. Bridges’ hopes for her children mirror the heart of Spartanburg’s early learning movement. “My hope for my kids is to thrive,” she said. “To be good people, to learn to the best of their ability and to love learning. I just want them to enjoy school and feel prepared for life.”

The 3-K program is also changing life for families across this rural district, where limited child care has long constrained opportunity. “By offering 3-year-old kindergarten, we’re helping families get out of the generational poverty we see in our area,” said Windy Hodge, chief academic officer for District 3. The full-day structure gives parents reliable care so they can work, pursue stability and build a stronger future for their children.

With support from SAM and a Full-Service Community Schools grant, District 3 has expanded early learning capacity and added wraparound supports, including mental health counseling and family site coordinators who work directly with parents to strengthen learning at home. Data from 3-K classrooms feed into the community’s shared early childhood dashboard, guiding expansion under Movement 2030 and linking early learning access to long-term goals for third-grade reading and postsecondary success.

As Hodge put it, “Early education isn’t just about preparing kids for kindergarten. It’s about preparing a community for the future. Continuous improvement starts with our youngest learners, all the way up to our seniors and postsecondary opportunities for students.”

Strengthening Instruction and Supports

At Cleveland Academy of Leadership, where 89% of students live in poverty and 77% experience transiency, educators are driving measurable gains for students. The school’s early adoption of 4-K, focus on the science of reading and use of continuous improvement practices have created a clear path for academic growth. “Having that early learning piece has been critical and really a catalyst for improving kindergarten readiness,” said Principal Marquice Clark.

The results show the impact of that focus. In 2020–2021, only 18.4% of Cleveland Academy’s third graders met or exceeded grade-level standards in reading and writing. By 2023–2024, that number had climbed to 57.8%. “We started with 13% reading proficiency,” Principal Clark said. “Today, more than half our kids are proficient and that is transformational.” Teachers rely on formative assessments to guide instruction and tailor support for each student, a practice now spreading across Spartanburg through SAM’s continuous improvement model.

Principal Clark sees this growth as proof that early investments and aligned systems can change outcomes. “Kindergarten readiness is the prerequisite for early-grade reading proficiency,” he said. “And early-grade literacy is the prerequisite for a well-meaning life.”

Using Continuous Improvement to Drive Change

Continuous improvement is a structured, data-driven approach that helps educators test ideas, measure progress and refine strategies to achieve better results over time. In 2021, Spartanburg School District Three began embedding continuous improvement practices across classrooms and district systems through Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles. In this process, teachers identify a specific goal, such as improving reading fluency, then plan a strategy, test it in their classrooms, study the results and make adjustments based on what they learn. Over time, these small, data-driven tests of change build momentum for larger shifts in practice.

What began in individual classrooms quickly evolved into a districtwide approach to teaching and leadership. Teachers and administrators now use data to measure progress, reflect and scale what works. The process has become part of the district’s culture — a mindset that empowers educators to continually learn, improve and lead change at every level.

“Continuous improvement is the engine that changed our district,” said Windy Hodge, chief academic officer for District 3. “It’s how we turned data into results.” What started as small classroom experiments now guides how the district approaches instruction, leadership and family engagement. Teachers work in improvement teams to analyze data, share strategies and spread effective practices. Administrators apply the same process to strengthen district systems — from curriculum alignment to professional learning — ensuring that improvement happens across every level of the organization.

Through SAM and Movement 2030, these continuous improvement efforts are connected across the community. SAM aligns data, resources and leadership so that lessons learned in classrooms inform broader strategies for early childhood and postsecondary success. Using continuous improvement as a shared framework, Spartanburg is building a communitywide culture of learning that turns early progress into lasting success for every child.

Connecting Vision, Systems and Results

As a place-based partnership, SAM brings together partners across education, health care, business, housing and local government around shared outcomes for children and families. Through Movement 2030, SAM has mobilized more than $100 million in collective investments for early childhood and postsecondary success, fueling classroom expansions, teacher development and family-centered initiatives like Hello Family. By aligning resources and accountability across sectors, SAM ensures that progress in one area strengthens the entire cradle-to-career continuum.

That work is supported by a broader national network. As part of the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, SAM benefits from shared learning and a proven framework for results. “The StriveTogether Theory of Action™ gave us a structure for aligning civic infrastructure and achieving proof points,” said Dr. Booker. “It helped us understand not just what to measure but how to sustain progress across systems.” Through this network, Spartanburg leaders collaborate with peers across the country to exchange strategies and lessons that accelerate local innovation and build national capacity for results-driven change.

“Having this network of partners to help us know how to do this work has been critical,” said Dr. Booker. “The Theory of Action showed us what to measure and how to move forward from cradle to career. It’s shaped our journey and our success.” As Spartanburg continues to learn and adapt, this shared framework and national connection are guiding the community’s next phase.

Sustaining and Scaling the Work

Spartanburg’s early childhood movement continues to grow. The most recent Early Development Instrument (EDI) data are giving SAM and its partners a clearer picture of how young children are developing across neighborhoods. These data now serve as a community benchmark for school readiness — helping partners identify where supports are most needed, align resources and track progress over time. The findings are guiding local decision-making for the coming years, ensuring that early learning investments are responsive to families and grounded in real results.

Building on these insights, districts are expanding early learning access by adding classrooms and training staff. “We’re not stopping with teachers,” said Hodge. “We’re training administrators and even non-instructional staff so that improvement is embedded across the system.”

For Dr. Booker, the next phase of work focuses on awareness, access and quality. “90% of brain development happens before age 5,” he said. “We’re focused on helping families and the community understand how critical those early experiences are.”

Booker emphasized three priorities: expanding access to early learning, improving quality of care and ensuring families understand the importance of early development. “There are still parts of our county that are child care deserts,” he said. “We’re working to fill those gaps so every family, in every neighborhood, can find the quality care their child deserves.”

This next phase also centers on sustainability — ensuring programs like Hello Family and 3-K become long-term pillars of Spartanburg’s strategy. SAM and its partners are securing funding, integrating data systems and advocating for policies that sustain early childhood gains. “We bring together everyone who touches a child’s life — from the school system to the hospital system to our city government,” said Dr. Booker. “We look at where the gaps are, set priorities and move forward together.” The goal remains clear: every child in Spartanburg should have access to high-quality early learning, strong family supports and opportunities to thrive.

A Model for Early Success

Spartanburg’s story is one of persistence, partnership and purpose. Over the past decade, the community has built the civic infrastructure needed to drive long-term change. Through SAM, partners are demonstrating what’s possible when a community takes ownership of its future and works collectively to improve outcomes from cradle to career.

At the heart of this work is a place-based partnership that turns collaboration into results. Rather than launching isolated initiatives, SAM and its partners have built systems that connect early learning, family supports and community resources. Using shared data and continuous improvement, partners make informed decisions that reflect families’ needs and expand opportunity across neighborhoods. The result is a more connected and resilient community.

While there is still more work ahead, Spartanburg’s progress offers an example of what collective impact can achieve. Families are better connected to supports, teachers are using data to strengthen instruction and local leaders are expanding access to quality early learning. “We are not just changing schools,” said Dr. Booker. “We are changing systems, and ultimately, changing lives.” Spartanburg’s story shows that when communities align around shared goals and use data to drive decisions, they can achieve lasting change, helping every child thrive from the very beginning.