Enrollment is Open for the 2023-2024 School Year!
Stepping Stones Educational Therapy Center specializes in providing a variety of instruction to special populations. Our program includes a high-quality preschool experience for families with children between the ages of 6 weeks through 3 years old, a lottery-funded program for children who are 4, as well as an Academy for students 14 years of age and younger. Please call 770-229-5511 for more information or to schedule a tour of the school. Let’s support one another.
Stepping Stones is accredited by The Georgia Accrediting Commission, Cognia, and Georgia DECAL.
The Beginning
In 1990, Bonnie Brown and Saralyn Fountain pursued a vision of beginning a preschool dedicated to laying a foundation for the educational needs of students with disabilities. The idea was that special needs students who had received early intervention were better able to adapt to the classroom environment, interact with peers, and potentially mainstream into society. In 1998, Stepping Stones expanded the preschool program to include typically developing students. The idea was that the special needs student would model behaviors of their typically developing peers and that the typically developing child would develop a better understanding of and compassion for those in less fortunate circumstances. Our present state-of-the-art facility opened in 2002 thanks to the generous support of many community and civic-minded supporters who embraced the mission of the school.
Founders Message
Dear Friends,
Early in 1990, Saralyn Fountain and myself, along with our husbands, sat in a booth at a local restaurant dreaming and planning on starting a school. God had placed it on our hearts to start a nonprofit school, serving children with special needs. As special education teachers, we had seen the impact that early intervention had on the continued success of a child. So we embarked on this journey to give every child the opportunity to grow into the very best they could be. From the small beginnings in a little house on Solomon Street with 3 children enrolled, this community has embraced this vision. The support began in 1990 with installing a new roof and building a ramp on the little house to later raising over one million dollars in 2000 to build a new facility on Futral Road. Our vision of serving children with special needs, ages 3-5, quickly grew into serving children from birth to age 14, along with an inclusion of typically developing children into our preschool program.
Through the years, Sarlayn and I would say, “If we can make a difference in one child’s life, then we have fulfilled our mission.” That mission continues today with new leaders who have the drive and the passion that Stepping Stones was founded with. Our community suffered a great loss when Saralyn passed away in 2016, but I’d like to believe that she is very proud of our dream that began in a little house on Solomon Street. I would like to thank the staff who give so much of themselves every day to make a difference in the life of the students, the donors who continue to believe in the mission, and the parents who entrust their most precious gift to Stepping Stones every day. But the success of our school lies in the hearts of each child that comes through our doors. To hear a child say, “Mama” when the parents were told that child would never talk, or see a child take his first steps when that child was never supposed to walk–this is how we measure success. Their courage to face life’s difficulties is the true heart of Stepping Stones Educational Therapy Center. I hope that you will join the many who have walked through our doors, and I promise you will leave a changed person.
Bonnie Brown
Vision and Purpose
The vision of Stepping Stones is to educate children by challenging each child to reach his/her fullest potential academically, socially, physically, and emotionally. The purpose of Stepping Stones is to educate children with special needs and developmental delays in order to enable them to function independently.
Directions
We are located at 141 Futral Road, Griffin, GA 30224.
It is the policy of Stepping Stones Educational Therapy Center, Inc. not to discriminate on the basis of sex, race, age, color, religion, national origin or disability in its educational programs, activities or employment practices. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies: Erin Mulder, emulder@steppingstonesschool.org or 770.229.5511.