Coming Together to Help DeSoto's Youngest Learners Start Strong

Great things happen when a community comes together around shared aspirations.

DeSoto County is launching a new collaborative initiative to help families prepare their young children for success in kindergarten and beyond. The Early Learning PreK Readiness Bag Program will provide families with thoughtfully curated, developmentally appropriate resources to use at home to support early learning and make the transition to school a positive one.

The program is made possible by funding championed by Florida Senate President Ben Albritton and Representative Vanessa Oliver, included in Florida's Fiscal Year 2026–2027 state budget, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in June.

This initiative is the result of conversations that began during the DeSoto Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Coalition meetings held between May and August 2025 and hosted by United Way Suncoast. As partners explored ways to strengthen kindergarten readiness across the county, common aspirations emerged: give every family practical tools, encouragement, and connections that make supporting their child's learning feel natural, enjoyable, and achievable.

That shared vision grew into a proposal supported by the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, United Way Suncoast, Links to Success, The School District of DeSoto County, the Early Learning Coalition of the Florida's Heartland, Step Up Suncoast, Forty Carrots Family Center, The Florida Center, and First 1,000 Days Suncoast.

The coalition's work will begin in earnest in early September 2026. Partners will collaborate to determine the contents of each readiness bag, carefully selecting resources that promote early literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional development. Just as importantly, the coalition will develop clear, encouraging messages that help parents and caregivers understand the tremendous impact of simple everyday activities like reading together, talking throughout the day, playing, singing, and establishing routines that help children feel confident and ready to learn.

The collaboration will also produce a series of short, easy-to-access videos demonstrating how families can use the materials in the bags, model fun parent-child interactions, highlight developmental milestones, and offer encouragement along the way. The videos will be made available in several languages, making the resources accessible to even more families throughout DeSoto County.

While the readiness bags will provide valuable learning materials, the real strength of this initiative lies in the relationships it will build. By bringing together organizations that share a commitment to young children and their families, the coalition is creating a network of support that extends well beyond the classroom.

"The most important resource in every child's life is a caring adult who believes in them. These readiness bags are simply a way to strengthen that relationship by giving families practical tools, encouragement, and ideas they can use every day. What excites me most is the way this initiative brings organizations together around shared aspirations. We'll learn from one another, build on each other's strengths, and keep DeSoto County's youngest children at the center of everything we do," said Beth Duda, director of the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading at The Patterson Foundation.