Dear Salida Schools' Community,
As current principal of Longfellow Elementary School, it was my pleasure to share a detailed report with our school board last month, and it is with pride that I share with you what makes Longfellow so great today. Longfellow Elementary is home to over 430 students from kindergarten through fourth grade, and we have a lot to be proud of.
Schools are the foundation of any great community and, as Salida and the surrounding area has grown and changed throughout the years, our schools have been the bedrock that makes this community great.
For over a hundred years, Longfellow has been a key part of the Salida School system and a key part of Salida. Students have grown up and now their kids and their grandkids are Longfellow lions. The building has changed, the staff has changed, but the incredible team of teachers and support staff continues to be the bedrock in the overall Salida School District’s excellence. They come to work every day with dedication to the building motto of “Every kid safe, every kid learning, every kid loved.”
This energy is reflected in the strong academic and social-emotional growth our students demonstrate, with the school earning the Governor's Distinguished Improvement Award year after year. This is all due to the incredible educational growth students receive during their years at Longfellow.
Elementary school is the time in a child's education where they become a student. They learn the basics of simple things like learning to raise their hand in class, following along in a line, listening to directions, and being a friend. When they leave Longfellow, our students are learning time management, organization, and how to collaborate with those around them. They’ve taken steps towards adolescence, towards adulthood, towards being someone who could change the world.
Also during their time in Longfellow, our students grow into becoming readers, writers, mathematicians, historians, and scientists. If they fall behind, we have a rigorous intervention system designed to give students that extra boost they may need. Those students receive small group instruction to help keep them on pace as they grow as learners.
Through Longfellow’s specials classes, students are exposed to visual arts, music, physical education, library resources, and the world of technology. One day they may be working on computer programming and the next they may be learning to play floor hockey. They create art in the model of Rembrandt. They meet authors of their favorite children’s books. They participate in music programs that are second to none.
Through our community partnerships, Longfellow Elementary students learn to be safe bike riders, learn to swim, learn about gardening, and how to safely enjoy and respect one of the community's greatest resources, the Arkansas River. This is all thanks to the Boys and Girls Club, the City of Salida, the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, Guidestone Colorado, Salida Police and Fire Departments, Chaffee County EMS, Salida Regional Library, GARNA, Absolute Bikes, Monarch Community Outreach, the Salida Rotary Clubs, Elevating Readers Together, and of course the Longfellow Parent Association.
Located on 7th and I street, the current Longfellow Elementary was completed in 2014. It is a beautiful building with lots of light, color, natural landscapes, and flexible learning spaces. It exemplifies the joy of childhood learning. It is the third school in the Salida School District to exist on this neighborhood campus with the first being completed in the early 1900’s. Its namesake is the educator and poet H.W. Longfellow. In a nod to the rich history and tradition of Salida, the name “Longfellow” has carried along in each of these buildings. Throughout the town of Salida, there are community members of all ages who are proud to have been students of Longfellow Elementary.
To this day, Longfellow continues to help students become lifelong learners. Foundational in its success is a supportive community, caring families, and an incredible staff who works day in and day out to make sure that “Every kid is safe, every kid is learning, and every kid is loved.”
To learn more, visit salidaschools.com or call 719-530-5260.
Cory Scheffel
Principal, Longfellow Elementary School