UT Charter School Celebrates Top Rating
American Statesman - Monday, August 20, 2007

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ACCREDITED BY NAEYC

Joins National Movement to Improve Early Childhood Education

Austin , TX - The University of Texas Elementary School has earned accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children - the nation's leading organization of early childhood professionals.

"We're proud to be accredited by NAEYC, and recognized for our commitment to reaching the highest professional standards," said Ramona Trevino, Principal/CEO of the UT Elementary School. "NAEYC Accreditation lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the best care and early learning experiences." The Early Childhood Program at UTES is composed of one Pre-K class and two kinder classes. We serve our youngest children by providing highly trained staff. Our teachers are updated on early childhood research and best practices. The PK class at UTES has partnered with Child Incorporated in order to provide a better child-adult ratio. We service children from an urban area who come from economically disadvantage families. The early childhood program at UTES is committed to our mission or providing a nurturing environment to students, establishing close communication with families, and providing a rich curriculum.

More than 11,000 early childhood programs - serving over one million young children - are currently accredited by NAEYC. "In recent years, we've seen a growing number of child care and preschool programs earning NAEYC Accreditation," said Mark Ginsberg, Ph.D., executive director of NAEYC.

"By earning accreditation, The UT Elementary School has become a leader in a national effort to raise the quality of early childhood education, and to help give all children a better start."

Responding to the growth of the system, in 1999 the NAEYC Governing Board appointed a National Commission on Accreditation Reinvention to conduct a comprehensive review of NAEYC's Accreditation system. Building on their work, NAEYC is making many changes to increase the reliability and accountability of the accreditation system and promote higher program quality. In April 2005, the NAEYC Governing Board Approved Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria, which will be used in the future to assess whether programs receive accreditation.

NAEYC created its accreditation program in 1985 to set professional standards for early childhood education, and to help families identify high-quality child care and early education programs. To earn NAEYC's accreditation, a program conducts a self-study to determine how well it meets the standards. After necessary improvements are made, the program is observed by independent, professional validators, and then reviewed by a national panel. Programs are accredited by NAEYC for a five-year period.