Says, “I want us to be the best. I don’t want us to be just a premier district… I want us to be the premier district.”

By Joycelyne Fadojutimi

Dr. Marla Sheppard arrived to Longview Independent School District (LISD) highly accomplished.

According to Longview ISD Board of Trustees President, Michael Tubb, Dr. Sheppard stood out from the very beginning of the hiring process. He described her as “impressive.” It all started, “From her resume to her video interview, to the in-person interviews, through contract negotiations, and now being employed with LISD since July 1st.”

Dr. Sheppard received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences from Texas A&M University in College Station. She pulled down her masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Houston. She and husband Dr. Daniel Sheppard are totally devoted to each other and their children Ashley, Jonathan, and Jeremiah.

Furthermore, her expertise in education is non-pareil. This former Houston ISD Secondary Teacher of the Year is first in many professional positions. For example, she was the first female principal at the historical Jack Yates High School founded in 1926 in Houston, Texas. She took Yates from academically unacceptable to Texas Education Agency (TEA) “Met Standard” with academic distinction in Mathematics. But wait, that is not all. All sanctions against Yates High School were also removed. It is important to note, Yates is just one of many schools she snatched from the jaws of academic failure to the sea of academic excellence. She did the same in Kansas.

Moreover, Dr. Sheppard’s vast and diverse experiences include Assistant Superintendent of School Leadership in Fort Bend ISD and Deputy Superintendent in Kansas City Public Schools. Wherever Sheppard went, academically underperforming schools were turned into high academically achieving schools. As a result of her transformational and authentic leadership in education, she is a recipient of the prestigious Marcus Foster Distinguished Educator Award.

Currently, Dr. Marla Sheppard, again the first African American woman to lead Longview ISD is making the most of her first 100 days listening and learning the ropes of her new position. In addition, she is acquainting herself with the whole school district proudly known as the Lobo Nation and the city it serves. Hence, she already spoke at Longview city council snatching every opportunity to learn all she can, loving and cherishing every minute.

For example, she savored every moment the week she met with LISD executives and staff including community members.

“It has been wonderful,” she said. “I’ve had a wonderful day. It has been one of the best days of my life. Just being able to meet them and being able to experience this opportunity.”

Dr. Sheppard was born into education. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was a principal, so the field of education is where she matured. At thousands of supper tables, she absorbed the intricacies, specifics, and importance of the learning process, but she and her brother took vastly different paths.

“How do you end up with one kid who has a doctorate degree, and another kid who gets in trouble with the law,” she asks. “The big difference was education, and for me it has become a mission.”

According to Sheppard, her goal has nothing to do with students’ zip codes or their school experiences prior to her arrival. Regardless of their backgrounds, she is bent on ensuring they achieve such a high level of academic preparation that they do not have to worry about having their futures chosen for them. They get to choose where they want to go and what they want to do because of their academic achievement.

“She’s a leader with a proven track record that has been eager to take the next step as a superintendent and lead a district forward. She can make decisive decisions and put the right people in the right place.”

Michael Tubb, President, Longview ISD Board of Trustees

Since her parents had to take her out of the neighborhood schools she attended and place her in other schools in order for her to receive a quality education, she hopes to see the day when every school provides its students the first-rate teaching they need and deserve as a civil right. Hence, one of her first projects in this mission is Bailey Elementary School whose academic performance is subpar compared to other LISD elementary campuses.

“I’m open to hearing what the additional resources are that the children there need to be successful,” she says. “I want to hear and learn about what’s needed over there because I’m definitely open to giving them what they need.”

Besides Bailey ES performance, academic /parental involvement in Longview ISD is not where it should be. Many researchers including Abrams & Gibbs, 2002; Epstein, 1995; agree that rates of parental involvement are lower in low-income communities.

Sheppard has plans to turn that tide around for good. She is deeply committed to advancing parental involvement in children’s learning process, and she intends to employ a hands-on approach. Her plan is to set a positive example by being highly visible in student interaction and incredibly involved in both school district and civic activities. She sees this as the best way to be on personal, effective terms with the community through open lines of communication that keep her informed of issues and challenges to be addressed.

“My plan is to be involved in this community as much as I possibly can,” she says. “That would be at churches and football games so people will feel comfortable talking to me.”

Hence, she believes community/parental involvement is a process that differs from city to city. By learning specifically what Longview ISD needs, she will determine how to tailor her approach to whatever is best locally. She will also extend this notion to parents so they can offer their services in whatever capacities that suit them best. She hopes this will motivate parents and young minds to look at learning as something that is permanently in style.

“That’s the first thing, making sure that we put things in place so that everyone can feel a sense of it’s cool to be smart,” she says. “We have to make sure that not only do we celebrate it but provide support.”

Moreover, she does not intend to offer a “one size fits all” approach to academics but aims for providing every student learning environments and methodologies that dovetail to his/her needs. She believes in “embracing the all” so that the LISD has something to offer every single youngster socially, academically, and emotionally regardless of such differences as ethnicity.

“When you think about African American children the question is ‘what is that?'” she says. “It’s not an achievement gap…it’s an opportunity gap. What are the opportunities that are needed so that every child can succeed?”

On a different note, athletics, especially football is ingrained in Texas high schools including the Lobos as evidenced by the mammoth crowds at Friday night football games. Balancing academics and athletics can be a delicate issue. Nonetheless, Sheppard already scored a touchdown with her academic game plan.

Her determination to provide second-to-none education to every student extends to athletics. She looks upon sports as an integral aspect of education to be concentrated on with intensity. The athletic field is an excellent avenue to scholarships that make it possible for many student athletes to fund higher education provided these sports-oriented scholars also earn their way in the classroom.

“I feel like athletics are a critical part, but I also believe you can’t access the benefits you can receive from athletics unless you’re a solid student,” she says. “We have to make sure we create solid students as well as solid athletes for those who choose that route.”

Importantly, Sheppard is inheriting an “A” rated district. Taking the LISD to higher heights is another one of her objectives. Once more, she plans to learn as much as possible. Consequently, she devised a “100-day plan” consisting of her meticulously learning as much as possible about the city, its students, community leaders, parents, school district staff and staff office employees. Once she has amassed sufficient information on all the needed details affecting her in her new position, she will be in a position to address these issues.

As of the writing of this story, she is awaiting official results of her queries into the district’s overall status, which should be ready before the end of August. She then will drive forward in her quest to make the district “better and better and better because I want us to be the best. I don’t want us to be just a premier district… I want us to be the premier district.”

Dr. Sheppard’s determination to constantly improve Longview’s schools encompasses athletics, college preparation and career readiness. She promises to reveal her master plan in its entirety when she finishes her 100-day evaluation/investigation. Until then she is holding back from outlining specifics. Still, her competitive nature makes success inevitable.

She is a native Houstonian who loves her seafood but has spent the past twenty-nine years concentrating mainly not on her table fare, but on her career, and then on using this preparation to help others, serving on various capacities in the education field.

Dr. Sheppard’s long and extensive experience as an educator has adequately prepared her soundly for her new post in the Pineywoods of Deep East Texas. Her career has totally immersed her in the enrichment of young minds and preparing them for successful futures in a wide spectrum of vocations. The countless methods she has seen, experienced and employed in her years of educating children have taught her how to assess and talk with people while also bringing an array of innovative methods she has used to accomplish success.

From her very first visit, she has felt a strong connection to Longview. “I love how the community wraps around the schools here and how the schools were performing well,” she says. “It feels good, and when I am here, I feel like I am at home.”

President Tubb added, “I have described her multiple times as “A General,” due to the fact she can take charge and lead without hesitation. She’s the right “woMAN” for the job, and the best is yet to come. GO LOBOS!”

For this reason, Dr. Marla Sheppard’s new home, the Lobo nation and the city of Longview, can look forward to astounding developments and a tenure replete of mega success.

Dr. Marla Sheppard is the cover story in the August infinitieplus magazine, out now.