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Students at Longfellow.

I am proud to say that two schools in District 2 received all possible academic distinction designations from the Texas Education Agency.

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Dan D. Rogers Elementary School and Henry W. Longfellow Career Exploration Academy join 28 other Dallas ISD schools in receiving this prestigious honor. These schools did not earn this achievement on accident: it took tireless work, innovative thinking and buy in from the staff, students and community.

Performing at high levels at Rogers Elementary

Dan D. Rogers Elementary School is a personalized learning campus, which means students have their own learning path based on their strengths and weaknesses. Small groups of teachers consistently look at data to see how each student is doing so they can then address the learning needs of each child.

“Our committed staff and all of our stakeholders are aligned to our mission of dreaming big, persisting and achieving excellence,” Principal Lisa Lovato said.

Lovato credits the Rogers Elementary community for consistently stepping up to support the campus. For example, there are retirees who live nearby who volunteer to mentor and tutor students after school. Meanwhile, nearby businesses and churches often lend support.

Lovato said the school’s focus on social and emotional learning (SEL) helps set students and staff on the path to success. In addition to techniques that help students such as deep breathing to regulate one’s emotions and/or show self-control, older students at the school are paired at random with other students to talk with each other about how they are doing in an effort to develop social awareness skills. The school is also connecting SEL instructional lessons that model social skills and habits of mind throughout the year.

“You can’t get kids to perform at high levels without addressing their other needs,” Lovato said. “By focusing on the whole child, we are setting our students up for success.”

Success at Longfellow

When Longfellow Principal Lorena Hernandez started in her position three years ago, she developed a shared vision plan with all staff to determine what the school wanted to be known for. The staff reached a consensus that they wanted the school to become a nationally recognized campus, and they all got to work to make that happen.

Longfellow is a project-based learning campus, which combines the teaching of standard skills with tangible hands-on learning projects.

Every department at Longfellow meets together on a daily basis to share best practices, look at data, and provide feedback with each other on how to improve. Students set individual goals that are monitored to gauge progress, and a culture of high expectations is the norm.

“Since we are a magnet, we can’t be satisfied with just minimum passing standards; we must have higher expectation for both us and our kids,” Hernandez said. “Students are being equipped with both academic and social skills to make a positive impact in our society.”

Longfellow looks to give students practical experiences through a challenging academic and collaborative environment that includes specialized courses, leadership development, enhancement of critical thinking skills and career exploration.

Dustin Marshall

Dustin Marshall

Dustin Marshall is the District 2 representative on the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees.