HAND-UP CHILDCARE TUITION ASSISTANCE

Helping local families pay for childcare tuition at quality early learning centers

Every child from birth to age 5 deserves quality early learning—where they can begin to grow essential life skills. We know many hardworking families don’t qualify for government aid, so that’s why we provide help.

The Hand-Up Tuition Assistance Program Helps Everyone

HELPS CHILDREN - Quality early learning gives children a strong foundation for school and for life—helping them learn, build confidence, develop relationships and become their best selves.

HELPS PARENTS - Affordable, dependable childcare allows parents to work, build careers and better provide for their families—while reducing financial stress and helping them become stronger parents.

HELPS EMPLOYERS - Reliable childcare means more reliable employees. Employers benefit from a more stable workforce, fewer childcare-related absences and better employee retention.

HELPS GOVERNMENT & TAXPAYERS - When parents can work, they earn income, pay taxes and become more financially self-sufficient. Investing in children early can also reduce the need for costly intervention later.

HELPS ALL OF US - Strong children become strong students, workers, parents and citizens. Giving children a better foundation today helps create stronger families, communities and a stronger America tomorrow.

"A person's character, when built on a weak foundation, always needs repairs.
Why do we spend money on repairing people instead of investing money in their foundations?"
Joe Santoro

Our Hand-Up Tuition Assistance program helps families in Central Florida who are working but struggling to afford quality early learning/preschool for their infants and toddlers.

  • We work only with a select list of approved quality early learning centers in Central Florida

  • We help families who are working and don’t qualify for government pre-K assistance but are finding tuition hard to cover.

  • We pay a portion of the monthly tuition per child from birth to age 5 directly to the child’s early learning center until they are in VPK or kindergarten.

  • To apply, you’ll start by sending us a completed pre-eligibility form (found HERE); then, if pre-approved, you'll complete our application, provide financial documentation, and have a brief interview.

Children with good foundations can win the biggest game -- LIFE!

Here's what some of our partner providers have to say about the Hand-Up tuition assistance program:

  • "Hand-Up tuition assistance has allowed families at both of my preschools to have access to high-quality childcare for their children at a discounted and more affordable rate.  This program looks at the whole child and the whole family to determine who would be the best fit.  I highly recommend this program to other schools to expand access to early childhood education."
    --Dr. Sarah James, Ed.D
    The Academy at Downtown Ocala

  • “The Santoro Foundation’s Hand-Up program has been a tremendous blessing to families who earn too much to qualify for state assistance but still struggle to afford high-quality early childhood education. From a center perspective, the process is incredibly simple. Our role is limited to promoting the program, and for those approved, submitting a monthly invoice. Otherwise, the Santoro Foundation handles all the rest! Partnering with the Santoro Foundation and their Hand-Up program is truly a no-brainer for centers that want to remove financial barriers without adding administrative burden.”
    — Aimee Knoepfel, M.A.
    Director, Amazing Grace Early Learning Center
    Oxford, Florida

  • "We want to extend a sincere thank you for all the support the Santoro Education Lifeskills Foundation provides through the Hand Up Tuition Assistance Program. The assistance makes a tremendous difference for our families, and we are deeply grateful for your partnership and dedication to the children in our community."
    -- Lourdes V. Casiano, Director
    KIDDIE ACADEMY OF CLERMONT

  • “We have had a wonderful experience with the Hand Up Tuition Assistance Program. It has been an especially valuable resource for our families who may not qualify for traditional income-based assistance but still need support with the rising cost of childcare. Saving families $200 per month can make a meaningful difference in their monthly budgets.

    I also really appreciate that Hand Up goes beyond tuition assistance by working directly with families and connecting them with additional resources available through your website. The program has been very easy for us to work with from the provider side as well. Communication is always friendly, helpful and straightforward, which makes the entire process much easier for both our center and our families.

    We truly value our partnership with Hand Up and are grateful to have this resource available to the families we serve. We would absolutely love to see the program continue to grow and reach even more working families who may fall into that ‘middle-income’ gap.”
    -- Cassandra Christie, Co-owner
    FUTURE SCHOLARS ACADEMY OF OCALA

  • “I intentionally spoke with my parents about their experience with the tuition program and I have gotten nothing but positive feedback from them. They have all advised that the process was very easy.

    They also expressed that they really like that there are only ‘handpicked’ schools that the tuition program partners with. They stated that it eases their minds knowing that the program actually visits the schools, observes the curriculum, and watches and interacts with the lesson plans. The families have expressed their gratitude for a program that can and will assist them.”

    -- Rachelle Heffernan, Owner
    SUNSHINE ACADEMY OF MARION COUNTY

A group of children sitting on top of a bench.

If you are a WORKING PARENT with one or more preschoolers (birth to age 5) and are struggling to pay for childcare tuition at a quality early learning center, we may be able to help!  Click HERE to go to our Documents page to read our parents' flyer, and then look at our Income Eligibility Chart to see if your family size and income fit within our approval parameters.  

If you believe you may qualify, download our Pre-Eligibility form, complete it in its entirety, including the name and address of the early learning center you are already or wish to enroll in, and send it to us.  We'll let you know if you qualify, and if you do, then we'll ask you to complete our full application to move ahead. 

IF YOU OWN, DIRECT OR WORK FOR A QUALITY EARLY LEARNING CENTER in Central Florida and would like additional information about how your center can potentially offer our HAND-UP Childcare Tuition Assistance Program to your enrolled families, please click HERE to go to the Documents page of this site for informational flyers that outline how simple our program is to implement, as well as the documentation we require from applicants.  Or, simply reach out to us on our “Contact Us” page and let us know if you are interested; please include your center’s name, address, telephone number, and the person to contact there.   We’ll gladly send you further information about our program and the participation requirements.

A group of children sitting at a table with art supplies.

How to use santorofoundation.org

This website is a free resource of material to help improve essential personal life skills and emotional intelligence.  The material on this website ranges from individual “sayings” to a full personal life skills curriculum program called Alive2Thrive.  To help you become your best self, please review all this site has to offer.  It is important you pass this site along to others so they can be the best they can be and by doing so we will build the best world.