The teenagers listened intently as the principal read his work.

"Now I see you with me and now I see the success in you

"You Rockets are what moves me

"You Rockets are what makes me believe."

The students cheered.

"That was awesome, " sophomore Djenane Joseph said to a friend.

"You guys can do this, " Rodriguez told them. "You've all been working hard. You can make gains."

PERSONAL TOUCH

Rodriguez arrives at school at 5:30 a.m. -- and stays until 5:30 p.m.

Throughout the morning, he brews several pots of coffee and invites employees to drop by.

When the students start to trickle in, Rodriguez welcomes them at the main entrance.

"How are you ladies feeling this morning?" he asked a group of teenage girls last week. "Ready to learn?"

For Rodriguez, this is more than just business.

He has a personal connection to the school.

Rodriguez came to Central as a rookie teacher in 1988. He had interviewed for a teaching position at the school the day after his graduation from Barry University.

Karen Potter, the indoor suspension coordinator at Central, said the young social-studies teacher was a powerful force.

"The kids were practically drooling to learn, " she recalled. "They wanted to be in his class."

After three years at Central, Rodriguez moved around to several other schools in the district.

He soon became a top principal.

Rodriguez was instrumental in helping Miami Springs Senior High rise from a D to a B in just two years.

In 2006, Rodriguez became the first principal at Ronald W. Reagan Senior High, a new school in middle-class Doral.

In its first year, Reagan was the only non-magnet high school in Miami-Dade to receive an A from the state. It earned an A the following year, too.

Rodriguez was named Florida's Principal of the Year last fall.

He decided he was ready for a new test.

"I probably could have stayed at Reagan for the rest of my career, " Rodriguez said. "It was a great school, but I like to be challenged."

Last November, Rodriguez asked for a meeting with Carvalho, the district superintendent.

One month later, when the principal at Central took a medical leave, Carvalho put Rodriguez in charge.

Placing Rodriguez, who is of Cuban descent, in a predominantly black school was a risky move. Before Rodriguez, five of the last six principals at Central were black. District officials worried about how the community would respond.

But leaders, teachers and staff members welcomed Rodriguez back to Central.

"We got exactly what I had been praying for, " said Kenneth Hall, who has known Rodriguez since the two were rookie teachers.

Already, the changes are apparent.

The hallways are cleaner. Candy wrappers and potato-chip bags no longer line the floors. There is little graffiti on the walls.

Longtime student activities director Bessie Legrant said she noticed the change when more teachers turned in surveys about the school from the district.

"One teacher said to me, 'This is the first time I've ever finished this, and I feel good about it, ' " Legrant said.

Teachers say attendance has improved dramatically.

The same goes for students. Senior Leonard Dumercy, 17, said he and his friends no longer skip class.

"There's a new attitude, " he said. "Mr. Rodriguez helped us focus."

Rodriguez also made the school feel safe again, said Potter, the veteran indoor suspension coordinator, noting that there are far fewer fights in the hallways.

That isn't to say there aren't any hotheads left at Central. But a majority of students are focused on the task at hand: improvement on the FCAT.

Many say they feel more confident about their abilities. And they feel good about Central's future.

"We know we can be a B school, " said Alonzo Faison, 16, a freshman football player. "We won't settle for anything less."