AUSTIN, Texas—Wearing tall "Dr Seuss" hats, Mark G. Yudof, chancellor of The University of Texas System, and Dr. Steven W. Leslie, executive vice president and provost of The University of Texas at Austin, will join other high profile friends of UT Elementary School in east Austin on March 2 to read to children during a celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday.
Yudof’s wife, Judy, also will be among the participants in the 7:45 a.m. celebration, which will include a morning assembly with first graders singing, "We love you, Dr. Seuss."
Others who will be wearing tall hats and reading a Dr. Seuss book will include Gregory Vincent, vice president for diversity and community engagement at The University of Texas at Austin; Marina Walne, executive director of The University of Texas System’s Institute for Public School Initiatives; and Ed Sharpe, professor of educational administration at The University of Texas at Austin and chairman of the UT Elementary School Management Board.
UT Elementary School, which opened in August 2003 at 2200 E. 6th St., is managed by The University of Texas at Austin and operates as an open-enrollment school campus providing services to children in east Austin.
"It sends a very important message to the children in our school when university leaders take time from their busy schedules to read to them," said Dr. Ramona Treviño, principal of the school. "It lets them know that their academic success is important to people all the way up to the very highest levels of the university."
Treviño said UT Elementary School is an integral part of The University of Texas System’s initiative to improve public education in the State of Texas. The school enrolls students in pre-K through fourth grades and will reach its capacity in fall 2007 when fifth grade is added.
"Our connection to the university is important to the students and families here," Treviño said. "We want them to know that our expectation for them is that they will be successful and will someday go to college."
UT Elementary School’s educational philosophy is grounded in research generated by The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education and the National Center for Educational Accountability. Based on its first year of state testing, UT Elementary is rated as "Recognized" by the Texas Education Agency. The pre-kindergarten and kindergarten program has received national accreditation from the National Association of the Education of Young Children.
For more information contact: Robert D. Meckel, Office of Public Affairs, 512-475-7847; Mary Dodd, UT Elementary School, 512-350-7728.
