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Urbana Early Childhood School Ribbon Cutting and Open House

Date: August 17, 2013 - 12:00pm to 2:00pm

Urbana Early Childhood School (UECS), located at 2202 E. Washington St, Urbana, will host an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony for their new facility on Saturday, August 17, 2013, from 12noon to 2pm. The open house will provide the community a chance to tour the new early childhood school prior to opening day.

All parents and their new and returning students of UECS will enjoy their own preview on Tuesday, August 20 from 3 pm to 5pm.

Urbana Early Childhood School principal, Cris Vowels is excited about the new facility. “One of the keys to educational success is having a positive, enriching environment in which to learn,” Vowels said. “We are thrilled to have a beautiful, efficient school that will help us provide the best possible environment to our students. We are so excited to welcome our students and families into our school.”

“On behalf of the Urbana School Board, we are pleased to provide this state-of-the-art early childhood school to serve our youngest students,” said John Dimmit, president of the Urbana School District #116 Board of Education. “The facility, a long time coming, can now support our award winning staff and curriculum, providing quality preparation for these students as they begin their life-long learning experience.” The new school features small child-friendly amenities such as lower windows and color-coordinated hallways, along with cost-saving items like a geothermal heating and cooling system. The total new construction is 58,000 square feet with the Early Childhood portion taking 41,000 square feet of the total. Once the construction is done, Prairie Elementary school will enjoy a brand new gymnasium, along with an atrium connecting the two schools. A number of firms were involved in the creation of new Early Childhood school building, including IGW Architecture and Perkins+Will.

USD #116 superintendent Donald Owen said, “I have had the privilege of working on several aspects of this project, and it will be very exciting to see the students and families enter the new school on the first day.”

The school, formerly known as Washington Early Childhood Center, will also start the 2013-14 school year with a new name. The new facility, located on the grounds of and attached to Prairie Elementary School, was named the Urbana Early Childhood School by the Urbana School District #116 Board of Education on Tuesday, May 21 during a BOE business meeting.

The phone number for Urbana Early Childhood School will stay the same (217-384-3513), however, their web site will change to www.usd116.org/uecs/ on Friday, August 9.

Information provided by the Urbana School District.

Last modified:Wednesday, August 7, 2013 - 16:54
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