Clarity Drives Excellence
Learning First exists because good schools need more than good intentions.
They need structure.
Our Story
Our Story
Shauna Stephanchick is a systemic change architect and the founder of STEP UP Consulting Services and Learning First — a Missouri-based consultancy and national brand dedicated to giving educators the curriculum clarity and instructional systems they have always deserved but were rarely given.
Her path to this work was not a straight line. Over more than two decades, Shauna served as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, elementary principal, Regional Professional Development Center consultant, and Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education PLC consultant and ELA content specialist. She has worked inside rural, suburban, and urban districts — and she has seen the same gap in every single one of them.
During her time as a state consultant, Shauna helped five schools earn recognition as PLC Exemplar Schools of Missouri — one of the highest designations a school can receive for sustainable, learning-focused systems. That work confirmed what she had suspected since her first year in the classroom: the problem was never the people. It was the systems that were never built to support them.
In 2019, she founded STEP UP Consulting Services to finally build those systems. Today, one-third of Missouri's school districts use the tools and frameworks her team developed — and through Learning First, that work is going national.
Check out a conversation with Shauna Stephanchick on Voyage KC online!
Learning First Philosophy
Experts in Curriculum, Clarity & School Improvement
Vision of Company:
A K-12 education system where curriculum clarity is not a privileged for well funded districts but a guaranteed foundation for every teacher and every child- because no educator should ever leave this profession simply because they lacked the clarity, systems or support to do what they were called to do.
Our Mission:
Learning First partners with educational leaders to build the systems, clarity, and culture that keeps great teachers in classrooms and moves every learner forward.
Our Core Values:
Quality: We recruit elite educational experts and implement rigorous, data driven product verification to ensure excellence.
Educator Collective Efficacy: We empower teachers with streamlined tools and actionable strategies, accelerating curriculum implementation through intuitive design.
Educational Equity: We champion accessibility by maintaining an affordable pricing structure that ensures all institutions can benefit from our resources.
Ready to Begin?
Reach out to our team and discover how Learning First can transform your school.