Through a partnership with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Oak Meadow Elementary School largely aided in the university's teacher preparation program being named as the first recipient of the International Reading Association’s (IRA) Certificate of Distinction.

Every Tuesday, university students meet at Oak Meadow for their classes, "Approaches to Teaching Language Arts, Social Studies and Fine Arts," and "Literacy Problems," often inviting school faculty members to serve as guest presenters for these classes. The future teachers also individually observe and learn from mentor Oak Meadow teachers, tutor one child in reading, and teach three social studies lessons during the semester.

As a part of the award evaluation process, members of IRA’s Quality Undergraduate Elementary and Secondary Teacher Education in Reading Task Force visited Oak Meadow in February to meet with Oak Meadow faculty and administrators and to see the UTSA student teachers in action working with the elementary students. In addition to noting the overall strength of the UTSA program, the reviewers specifically cited the nature and sequencing of the field experiences, like those at Oak Meadow, as strong points.

UTSA faculty member Dr. Roxanne Henkin reported that the field training at Oak Meadow gives teacher candidates a high confidence and comfort level as they prepare for their upcoming student teaching.