Every pupil at Long Elementary School is taught to feel a sense of belonging, autonomy and caring for their community and each other, and character education has played a daily role in achieving this goal for the past six years, according to a Lindbergh Schools’ news release.

For these leadership efforts, Long Elementary recently was recognized as a 2009 National School of Character by the Character Education Partnership in Washington, D.C.

Long is one of just seven schools nationwide to earn this prestigious distinction from the Character Education Partnership, which recognizes winning schools for demonstrating school transformation through low-cost, high-quality character education initiatives.

“Character education is not a program but a way of operating,” Long Elementary School Principal Brian McKenney stated in the news release. “It transforms how we view ourselves, how we envision education generally, and how we approach our practice.

“Becoming a National School of Character is a credit to our entire community — teachers, parents and students. It’s amazing when people commit to a comprehensive character initiative how it impacts every area of school life.”

The transformation to becoming a School of Character includes closing the achievement gap and raising academic expectations for all students, building strong relationships and partnerships between parents, teachers, and students and giving students opportunities to serve their communities, according to the release.

“Character education is a vehicle for us to allow kids and the community to become more active partners in their own education,” McKenney stated.