Our Mission and Values
Our Mission
Our mission is to change lives and impact futures of Don Lugo students, staffulty, and parents by enhancing the culture and climate of our school, by building people inside and outside our organization, and by sustaining the viability of teaching and learning at our school. This mission is born out of the vision and dreams of many alumni, business and community partners, parents, staffulty, and students who greatly desire to see the Don Antonio Lugo High School ascend to the best environment of teaching and learning imaginable — a model school, producing meaningful, revolutionary graduates. This mission is supported by the values and beliefs that our stakeholders have identified as the essence of the heart of a Don Lugo graduate, Don Lugo staffulty member, Don Lugo parent, and Don Lugo business and community partner.
Our Values
Excellence for all Stakeholders - We recognize all students for achievement and continuous improvement instead of focusing on the top few achievers in the school. Furthermore, teachers are recognized for their vital role in the education of our students in their capacity as members of the most respected profession in the community. Their efforts for and inspiration to the students are recognized and rewarded. Classified staff members are also honored for their part in the school. Furthermore, parents and community members receive acclaim for being part of the equation in the miracle of creating high school graduates. We leave no one out of being recognized and rewarded for being part in the education of young people. This redefines the role of schools from their present positions to those of a true part of the community at large.
The Guarantee - All teachers have the right to teach and all students have the right to learn in a positive environment where achievement is recognized and rewarded. That is to say that discipline and consequences take a back seat to positive rewards and recognition since these are more effective means of encouraging learning and reinforcing a productive work ethic. This guarantee empowers students to take ownership of their education, as it is a right for them to have it, while teachers are guaranteed the right to provide an education to their students. While at first glance this concept may seem an obvious statement, consider the deeper meaning to students who feel powerless and unrecognized in the academic community. Through the empowering nature of this guarantee and by implementing the full vision of these values, students will learn to master basic skills, pursue academic excellence in all subjects, and demonstrate improved performance in testing. Everything done at Don Lugo is to be about teaching and learning.
Accountability - We promote the tracking of academic improvement. As research maintains that students who engage in self-monitoring will be more likely to succeed and achieve, we encourage educators and enable students to track academic progress in a host of ways. The most common of these methods is Honor Cards, where students receive special credit-card-like symbols of their level of achievement made evident by their grade point average (GPA) each semester. Students who raise their GPA to a higher, pre-designated level of achievement will receive a higher level of a Honor Card. Students who maintain their GPA at the same level through a semester will receive the same level of a card. Students whose GPA declines to a lower, pre-designated level may receive a lower level of Honor card or have no card at all. In addition to other methods of tracking achievement, we encourage educators to use these in a host of ways as a method of reinforcing positive behaviors.
The Images - Traditions, Extra-Curricular Activities, Athletics, and Academics. These are the essential images that represent Don Lugo in our community. While an image can be defined as a symbol or illustration that communicates a larger idea, we seek to expand this definition to attach these images to a broader and deeper representation of our school’s mission, its stakeholders, and its legacy. While every high school has a graduation ceremony, consider what our graduation ceremony represents to the community at large. Attach the ceremony to the notion of the quality of students that our school produces and the value of it will be that much more meaningful. Furthermore, despite the athletic quality of our school’s sports teams, imagine our players representing the image of sportsmanship, drive, perseverance, and honor that distinguishes them from other schools. Attach an idea to an image and it can be that much more powerful.
Edification - Staff and faculty (staffulty) are honored and appreciated for excellence. Edification is defined as intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement. While the function of the school is traditionally geared toward intellectual edification or improvement, there is a clear link between the quality of the education at a site and the moral and spiritual affects felt by the stakeholders therein. We promote edification of staffulty and students beyond traditional notions of simple intellectual improvement. When students and staffulty are honored and appreciated for their achievements, the effects are much more far reaching. Positive behaviors are reinforced, the necessity of disciplining negative behaviors declines, and students and staffulty naturally redefine their definition of what it means to be part of our school’s academic community.
Visible, Tangible, Walk-aroundable - All actions and rewards at Don Lugo must be visible, tangible, and walk-a-roundable. “Visible” is the necessity for rewards, traditions, ceremonies, etc. to be known to all members of the school. All stakeholders should be able to adequately approach any of these elements of our academic program in an informed fashion, such that when any random person is asked about a certain element of it they are fully aware of its importance and meaning. “Tangible” refers to the necessity for the academic program to communicate consistent, understandable messages to all stakeholders. “Walk-a-roundable” is a call for our academic program to be aware of the silent messages being sent by the school, its traditions, ceremonies, rewards, etc. that are being sent to stakeholders.
Edification of Parents and Community - Recognizing and rewarding parents and community for their support of Don Antonio Lugo High School and Don Lugo Renaissance Foundation. Edification is defined as intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement. While the function of a school in a community is traditionally geared toward intellectual edification or improvement, there is a clear link between the quality of the education at a site and the moral and spiritual affects felt by the stakeholders therein and in the community without. Parents and the community at large (including business partners) play a vital role in participating in the miracle of creating a high school graduate. Don Lugo Renaissance Foundation makes a point of recognizing and rewarding parents and the community for their support of Don Antonio Lugo High School and the educational aims of it as an institution.
Celebrations, Rituals, and Ceremonies - Events that recognize students and staffulty achievement with creativity, enthusiasm, and tradition. Simply put, celebrations, rituals and ceremonies are events that are a cornerstone of the academic program at Don Lugo. When all stakeholders are honored in a way that is creative, enthusiastic, and ritualistic (in the sense that it embodies a school tradition), they feel the positive effects of being edified and recognized in front of their peers. This value reinforces the notion that public recognition is one of the most powerful ways that you can energize your stakeholders.
Partnerships and Coalitions - Partnerships are defined as business and community commitments to building and supporting Don Lugo Renaissance Foundation. Coalitions refer to other leaders, such as those of this foundation, within a state or region coming together for support, ideas, and information. The most ignored segment of our stakeholders is our business partners. When the community is blessed with successful students and quality educators who train them, businesses feel the natural effects of having such citizens in their midst: young people are more prepared as hirable employees and revenues increase because of the economic health of the city, due to its highly qualified populous. Businesses understand the benefits of this relationship with the academic community in their markets. We must encourage businesses to enter into partnerships with schools to support Don Lugo Renaissance Foundation and Don Antonio Lugo High School.
Alumni and Foundations - Alumni are often an untapped resource of a school for many different types of support. Don Lugo Renaissance Foundation’s commitment to all stakeholders does not leave out alumni, as they are an often-untapped source of support (including funding). Alumni often attribute some of their success to the educational institutions that supported them in their younger years. Our foundation will reach out to Alumni for support. Our 501(c)3 is a crucial element of the financial stability of our academic program at Don Lugo.