Mr. D. John Long, Jr

 English / Language Arts

After graduating from The Taft School in 1988, John earned a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language from Lafayette College in Easton, PA in 1992. While at Lafayette, he was inducted into Sigma Delta Pi (National Spanish Honor Society) for excellence in the study of foreign language and the study of literature. John also holds an advanced degree in Humanities from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.8.

John has taught since 2002 in Thomaston Public Schools, teaching primarily eighth grade. Over his many years in the district, John has acted as the Team Leader of the Seventh and Eighth Grade Teams as well as the English Department Coordinator. In 2011, John was named “Teacher of the Year” for the Thomaston Public School District. Also during 2011, while extending his teaching certificate to encompass high school English, John received recognition for scoring in the top fifteen percent nationally on the Praxis II exam for English content. He is currently teaching grade eight English / Language Arts.

In addition to teaching, John is the founder and former director of Litchfield Hills Girls Lacrosse and coaches the THS Varsity Field Hockey Team. Over the past few years, he has encouraged several girls from Thomaston to pick up the games of lacrosse and field hockey. He is an avid lacrosse and ice hockey player, a musician and songwriter, and a die-hard Bruins and Red Sox fan. John currently lives in Thomaston with his wife Lauren and has two daughters, Lexi and Cameron.