FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 7, 2009
Laredo Classrooms Awarded School Readiness Certifications
Laredo, TX – – TMC a member of the Texas School Ready Project, formerly the Texas Early Education Model program, announced today the quantity of classrooms in Laredo that were awarded the “School Readiness Certification for 2008-2009 by the State Center for Early Childhood Development at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. A ceremony was held at the UISD Student Activity Complex to announce the 104 classrooms that were certified from United ISD, Laredo ISD, Head Starts, Private Child Cares and Faith Based Schools.
The School Readiness designation indicates that after two years of compliance, the designated classrooms have demonstrated a high level of performance in providing a quality pre-school curriculum to children ages 4 and 5 years old. These teachers have successfully implemented the School Ready Project principles of classroom management, phonological awareness, vocabulary building, letter knowledge, early writing, early math, and preparatory reading.
The following are schools whose classrooms received the Texas School Ready! designation:
United ISD - five classrooms at Arndt Elementary, four classrooms at Centeno Elementary, four classrooms at Perez Elementary, five classrooms at Prada Elementary, four classrooms at Roosevelt Elementary, and six classrooms at Zaffirini Elementary. Laredo ISD – five classrooms at Bruni Elementary, two classrooms at Gallego Elementary, one classroom at Heights Elementary, one classroom at Leyendecker Elementary, four classrooms at Tarver Elementary, three classrooms at Diaches Elementary, three classrooms at McDonnel Elementary, four classrooms at Ryan Elementary, one classroom at Milton Elementary, four classrooms at Santa Maria Elementary and four classrooms at Santo Nino Elementary. Blessed Sacrament Elementary had one classroom, Mary Help of Christians Elementary had two classrooms, Our Lady of Guadalupe had one classroom, St. Augustine Elementary had one classroom and St. Peter’s Elementary had one classroom. Also, classrooms from fourteen Head Start Centers in Webb County and classrooms from ten private child cares received the School Ready! designation.
“We are excited about our TEEM-mentor classrooms being given this certification, also, that we have been given the opportunity to offer families of Laredo access to programs that will help their children start school ready to learn," said Mary Capello, CEO.
Background
Pre-schools and child-care centers apply yearly to SCECD and provide their review staff with information about classrooms and educational programs, including the learning environment and curriculum. Children attending applicant classrooms are then followed from pre-K into kindergarten and evaluated by the SCECD for early reading and social development to determine if the pre-K classroom helped prepare the student for success in elementary school.
Each year pre-school, Head Start and childcare centers can apply to the SCECD for accreditation. Every center that receives accreditation on a given year must reapply for the next school year. The goal of this program is to provide each child with a school ready experience. The “Texas Readiness Certification: Ready for School, Ready for Life” program, developed by the State Center and 20 community partnerships from across Texas evaluates pre-school, Head Start and childcare classrooms and supports teacher training.
