UCLA's Elementary School to Rename Library in Recognition of $1.5 Million Gift From Kelly and Lou Gonda


Date: March 29, 2000
Contact: Marisa Osorio ( ([email protected]) )
Phone: (310) 206-3986

Kelly and Lou Gonda have personally donated $1.5 million to Corrine A. Seeds University Elementary School at UCLA, making the largest gift in the elementary school's 118-year history. The donation will help the school continue its work of providing a model and a resource for public schools and create a high-tech multimedia center in the library.

Kelly and Lou Gonda's twin sons graduated from the school in 1999. "We had such a great experience at UES that we wanted to share it with others," said Lou Gonda. "And we're thrilled to be able to support the library, which is such an important part of the school."

In recognition of their generosity, the UES library will be renamed the Gonda Family Library during dedication ceremonies to be held in the fall. Plans for the library multimedia center include developing facilities that teachers, students and staff can use for creating and editing video and adding high-speed computers, and a flat-screen television that will enable teachers to conduct interactive, computer-based lessons with students and teachers.

A Birthday Book Club was also established to help foster a close connection between UES students and their school library. The club meets once each month in the library. Every UES student who has a birthday that month goes to the library and looks through a selection of new titles, which have been purchased with funds from the Gondas' gift. Each child chooses one book as his or her addition to the library's permanent collection. A parent volunteer fills out a bookplate with the child's name and places it in the book to honor the child's special day.

A portion of the gift will also be used to create Apu's Garden, a children's community garden established at UES in celebration of Leslie Gonda's 80th birthday. Leslie Gonda is the father of Lou Gonda.

UES is the laboratory school of UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. It is the only university-based laboratory school in California that includes pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The school provides a setting in which innovative, research-based instructional approaches are developed and systematically evaluated.

"The Gonda family has a strong tradition of giving generously to the university," said UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale. "I am grateful to Kelly and Lou for continuing this tradition with their gift to UES."

UES Principal Margaret Heritage said Kelly and Lou Gonda have been longtime supporters of the school and the library. "It was Kelly's inspiration that brought us the Birthday Book Club, an innovative approach to giving children a lifetime connection to the library."

She added that the school library is a model for thousands of teachers, librarians and policy makers who visit the school each year. "This generous gift will help us to highlight the important role school libraries and librarians play in enriching the instructional program and teaching children important information literacy skills," Heritage said.

Deborah Stipek, UES director and professor of education, said integrating technology into the curriculum in a way that benefits children's learning is an important area of their work as a laboratory school. "Our ability to continue this work and bring it to public school teachers so that it may benefit children throughout the state depends in large part on the generosity of people like the Gondas," she said.

The Gondas' gift puts the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies over its $30 million goal for Campaign UCLA, the university's seven-year, $1.2 billion fundraising drive.

Established in 1882 as the Training School of the Los Angeles State Normal School, UES has made many important contributions to education innovations. It was among the first schools to use multi-age grouping, team teaching and hands-on learning.

UES teachers and researchers recently developed a 1999 summer institute that brought teachers and students from Los Angeles area schools to UES to develop methods for improving literacy instruction in their classrooms. The institute was part of Gov. Gray Davis' California reading professional development institutes to improve reading scores.

The school also has developed a school safety program aimed at creating a physically and psychologically safe environment for children's learning by preventing aggression. In addition, the school has an information management curriculum that helps students find, manage, evaluate and use information from a variety of sources.

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