Dear Longfellow Families,
Fall is in the air and with it come some special events at Longfellow. We recently had our Halloween Parade, which will be followed by “El Dia De Los Muertos,” where families, students, and Longfellow staff come together to share and enjoy our students and their work.

On another note, we are nearing the completion of the new district safety procedures for volunteers, so we are very eager to once again have our dedicated group of volunteers and the Art Corps back in our classrooms, enriching and supporting the educational process at Longfellow.

As we the staff strive for ongoing improvement in the curriculum and instruction at Longfellow, we are also in the process of implementing school wide expectations for our students. A Middle School Parent & Student Handbook was recently distributed and the Elementary School Handbook will be sent out shortly. Parents will find lots of general information about the school, procedures, schedules, and general operations, in addition to the expectations we have put into place so as to ensure a safe environment conducive to learning.

Lastly, we have really ramped up technology at Longfellow this year. As part of SDUSD’s i21 Project, all of our 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classrooms are equipped with interactive Promethean Boards and our teachers are being trained to integrate this cutting-edge technology into their daily lessons. Soon our 3rd and 6th grade students will receive their own laptop tablets, followed by 4th and 7th next year, according to the district technology plan. Our goal is for all of our young “Digital Natives” to become proficient and advanced with the National Technology Standards. For this reason, every middle school student at Longfellow has a technology-based elective course this year. Our students will leave Longfellow proficient in technology and well prepared for any high school program.

I would like to express our appreciation for the parental involvement and dedication to our school. I encourage those of you who are new to Longfellow to join us and become actively involved in our educational community.

Cynthia Arce Principal