Lopez Elementary named 'Legacy School' in Leader In Me instructional program

Barely two months after appearing on a list of schools facing possible closure for low enrollment, Lopez Elementary School was celebrating its achievement of “Legacy” status in the Leader In Me program.

About 100 community members, including former teachers and students, were at the school in southwest Fort Collins on Wednesday for a schoolwide ceremony in recognition of the honor. Students presented the effective habits the program is based upon and sang along with a song local musician Carl Carillo wrote to reinforce them as he played along on his guitar. Carilllo is the parent of a former Lopez student.

There were brief speeches by Poudre School District Assistant Superintendent Traci Gile, a former Lopez principal, and current Principal Cheryl Day, as well as a video presented on a large movie screen at the front of the school’s cafeteria/gymnasium from Sean Covey, president of the FranklinCovey leadership company that created the instructional program now in use by more than 7,000 schools worldwide.

“A Legacy School makes a continuous distinctive contribution to the community as a whole, so these are the finest schools in the world,” Sean Covey said in the video.

The curriculum grew out of a popular book written by Covey’s father, Stephen Covey, and first published in 1989, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”

Those seven habits are:

1. Be proactive

2. Begin with the end in mind

3. Put first things first

4. Think win-win

5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood

6. Synergize

7. Sharpen the saw

Stephen Covey later added an eighth, “Find your voice,” Day said, that is “sort of like a sense of purpose to your life; what’s your unique contribution? How are you going to give back to the world?”

Lopez incorporates those eight habits in all classes at all grade levels every day, she said.

Second grader Jack Purdy said he has learned to be “more kind” through Leader In Me instruction. Third grader Razan Alkhazaali, who first came to Lopez as a preschooler in its Early Childhood Education program, said she has learned to speak up and be more confident.

“We are leaders today leading tomorrow,” students and staff said in unison, as they rose to their feet to sing the seven habits song with Carillo.

The recognition assembly was a welcome relief for the Lopez community, which had rallied in opposition to PSD school closure and consolidation plans released March 19 that included two scenarios in which Lopez would be closed. Although that option was removed from revised options presented May 10, the Lopez community felt like closing its school was still an option the Board of Education might choose. That process was halted Monday, ensuring Lopez and the others mentioned for possible closure will remain open through at least the 2025-26 school year.

More: 'We have heard you': PSD school board halts plans to close, consolidate schools

“This has been a school year with a lot of emotions and a lot of up and down, and it feels really good to be celebrating today feeling confident about what the future holds for us,” Day said. “It’s nice that we’re celebrating, and we can really enjoy this day without anything else weighing on us.”

Lopez adopted the Leader In Me program in 2011 after surviving a previous round of school closures by the district and gained “Lighthouse” status for its implementation, Day said. FranklinCovey performs a review and recertification of a school’s adherence to the program every two years, Day said. A school that has been at the Lighthouse level for a minimum of eight years and “exhibits innovation and sustained growth to sustaining levels of the majority of Lighthouse criteria” can apply for Legacy status, according to the program’s website.

“What it really means is just years of students and families and parents all working together with the end in mind of helping kids reach their full potential,” Day said. “We really look at our kids leaving Lopez knowing that they can do really important things in the world, especially when they join together as a community to do that.”

Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, x.com/KellyLyell and  facebook.com/KellyLyell.news. 

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Lopez Elementary named 'Legacy School' in Leader In Me program