The Lindbergh School District has always been in the vanguard of character building. When it took its first steps in 1989 to introduce character education in all of its buildings, the world was a different place. No cell phones, no laptops, no iPods, no text messages, no Character Education Partnership (CEP). However, the founding committee had the vision to see that a district-wide espousal of character, with all schools and the community on board, would be the best way to achieve the district’s goal: to develop competent and caring graduates through exceptional programs, services, and personnel. The Lindbergh campaign for character was just two years old when Jim Sandfort took the reins as the district’s superintendent of schools. It was the district’s commitment to character that prompted Sandfort to join Lindbergh, and it was the board’s support of it that sustained him for 17 years. The now-retired superintendent says, “Even though individual board members have come and gone, the board has always cared deeply about students, staff, and families. They have had only one agenda: what is best for children.”

Lindbergh’s achievements attest to the effectiveness of its intentional and structured approach to character development. CEP honored Kennerly Elementary School as an NSOC in 2000 and Sappington Elementary an NSOC in 2008, and seven of the district’s eight schools, as well as the district itself, have won one or more Promising Practices awards (see Promising Practices below).

Read more about Lindbergh in the 2008 NSOC book: “Having a Heart for Kids”

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