Several La Porte ISD pre-kindergarten teachers were rewarded for their dedication in preparing students for kindergarten when their classrooms recently received School Readiness Certification for the state of Texas.

A total of 3,152 classrooms received 2011-2012 certification through the legislatively funded evaluation system operated by the Children's Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. More than 65 percent of eligible classrooms were certified. Because the certification process takes two years to complete, the awards are based on LPISD 2009-2010 classrooms.

In LPISD, 2009-10 pre-kindergarten classrooms at College Park Elementary, Heritage Elementary, Bayshore Elementary and LPISD Head Start Center earned certification.

To achieve certification, teachers at preschools and other early childhood education and development centers provide information about their classroom instructional practices. The results are then studied along with information provided by Texas public school districts to assess students' early reading and social development skills after they advance to kindergarten.

The annual certification shows that children who graduated from these pre-kindergarten classrooms went to public kindergarten with the fundamental early literacy skills in place to be successful. Licensed child care providers, Head Start, and public pre-kindergarten classrooms are included in the voluntary program.