LONGVIEW, Texas — With just a little over a month away from the first day of school for Longview ISD, a new leader is hard at work getting ready for the upcoming school year.
Dr. Marla Sheppard brings 30 years of education experience from Houston, Fort Bend, Kansas City and more to her first superintendent role at Longview ISD.
"Longview has plenty of exciting things going on, and for me, being able to come into a district that has this level of innovation has been very positive. Because I’m an innovative leader, and so I feel like being able to combine my innovation with the innovation that’s already here, can only make the district better," Sheppard said.
Speaking of innovation, voters in Longview recently approved a bond for the district that’ll bring over $456 million worth of improvements which excites Sheppard.
"That is super exciting. Having five new structures and then making sure that all our buildings are brought to a level of excellence, it’s super exciting," Sheppard said.
Longview is the second largest district in East Texas with more than 8,000 students and nearly 2,000 staff members. Sheppard said those numbers are nothing compared to what she used to work with back in Houston.
"When I was at Houston ISD we had over 215,000 students. Yes, and most of the districts I’ve worked in have been urban and they’ve been pretty monstrous. Fort Bend had about 80,000. So again, those are all benefits for me being in this role, because I’ve seen a lot of things," Sheppard said.
Outside of the office, Sheppard will fit right in with Lobo nation as a huge sports fan. She said if she's not in her office or school hallways, there’s a decent shot she is at the fields.
"So you will see me at the games. You will see me at the football games, you will see me at the baseball games, you will see me all over Longview, because this is now home for us. I’ll see everyone at the games, in the schools, and in the community," Sheppard said.