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Every Child, Every Advantage

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Elementary University

They couldn't stop smiling.

From pre-kindergarten to first grade, three classes of students celebrated the end of the University of Texas Elementary School's (UTES) first year late in May. They collected their certificates from school principal Ramona Trevino, clapped for one another, flashed Hook'em, Horns signs - and headed for the doughnuts.

Looking a little more tired, but equally happy, the school's teachers, staff members and parents snapped photographs and hugged friends and colleagues. Many of them quoted Dr. Terry Clark, director of UT-Austin's educational productivity council, when they recounted the ambitious first year of Texas 's first university-school-community partnership: "It's like trying to build a ship while at sea."

UTES opened in August 2003, welcoming more than 100 children from lower-income neighborhoods in East Austin . A partnership among the University of Texas at Austin, the school and the community, UTES offers an innovative approach to early education by using teaching methods researched and developed by faculty members at the UT College of Education, and teacher hiring and building design expertise from the Priscilla Pond Flawn Child and Family Laboratory. Through ongoing assessments of the students, UT researchers are then able to measure how successful the school's curriculum has been, to test new ideas and to discard less-successful ideas.

"We want our students to compete in our middle-class, Anglo-Saxon society," UTES principal Ramona Trevino said of a student body that is about 70 percent Hispanic, 25 percent African-American, and 4 percent Anglo. Aside from a core curriculum that emphasizes the basic academic areas of language, math, social studies and science, UTES also focuses on computer literacy and social skills that will enable its students to succeed in a world beyond the small East Austin campus.

At midyear, pre-kindergarten students scored "extraordinary results" in language assessment tests that showed they all performed at grade level, Ms. Trevino said. Similarly, first-graders were all evaluated as reading at grade level.

UT Elementary is a vital part of the UT System's commitment to enhancing the education of all Texas schoolchildren from kindergarten through college. "The UT System strives to promote a seamless system of education from the earliest years of formal education through the baccalaureate level," said UT System Chancellor Mark G. Yudof. "In this regard, the K-12 educational system and the traditional four years of study leading to a bachelor's degree are envisioned as part of one continuous process we designate as 'PK-16.'"

Other examples of the UT System's PK-16 emphasis include UT-Tyler's Reading Clinic, where undergraduate students tutor a K-12 student every week, UT-Arlington's field-based teacher education program, in which education students intern with area schools as part of their teacher certification, and the online preparation course for the 11th grade exit-level TAKS test.

UTES principal Trevino defines her visions of the school's success as something that can be measured by - but shouldn't be limited to - testing.

"There are other measures - like parental involvement," she said. "When I see so many parents show up here, that's a huge success. It's a long-term influence for their families, showing the importance of education - something that's vital for lifetime learning."

At UTES's first graduation day, Janie Castillo-Flores was one of those parents who showed her commitment to education by participating at the school. She came to see her middle daughter, Valerie, 6, graduate from kindergarten. But she also spoke to the students about her own experiences as a UT-Austin graduate -- with a bachelor's degree in government she had received only four days earlier.

"I'm a big Longhorn, speaking to all you small Longhorns," said Ms. Castillo-Flores, who wore her graduation gown and cap and a proud smile.

Ms. Castillo-Flores' youngest child, 4-year-old Christian, will be in the UTES's 2004-05 pre-kindergarten class in the fall. "From Day One, this has been our school," she said. "Parents have helped make the decisions here. It's what my husband and I both wanted - more community involvement in a public school."

After less than a year, the open-enrollment school has a waiting list for upcoming classes. In 2004-05, it will expand another year, to the second grade, and will add a new grade each following year up to the fifth grade. Among its innovations, UTES offers a longer school day and year and requires after-school and summer programs for children whose academic performance needs to be improved. Beginning in June, 16 of the school's current students will be attending summer school.