Cooper ES and Claughton MS Principals Named 2023 Principals of the Year
Cooper Elementary School Principal Mayra Garcia and Claughton Middle School Principal Rodney Louis each had an exciting morning as a cheering crowd of district administrators and their own campus staff members surprised them with the titles of Spring ISD Elementary and Secondary Principals of the Year.
Cooper staff led their perplexed principal to the school gymnasium. “They were calling me into the gym and I’m like, ‘What’s going on? Nothing should be happening at this time in the gym,’” Garcia said.
Principal Garcia discovered that something was indeed happening in the gym, and she was the guest of honor. District and campus staff were joined by members of Garcia’s family as Spring ISD Superintendent Dr. Lupita Hinojosa informed her that she was the district’s Elementary Principal of the Year.
Dr. Hinojosa was visibly touched by the team spirit and leadership displayed by Garcia, who repeatedly shared the credit with her campus staff.
“It is for my staff, for my students and for my community. We’re working together every single day to ensure that we provide the best for our students,” Garcia said.
Spring ISD Chief of Schools Dr. Miguel Perez remarked that the process of selecting the Principal of the Year is a rigorous and challenging one. District leadership considers academic data, conducts campus observations and listens to staff and community feedback before making the final decisions.
“Mayra Garcia has moved through the ranks,” Perez said. “She has worked every position in a school, so this is a great thing for Spring ISD and a phenomenal accomplishment for Cooper Elementary.”
With the Elementary award delivered, the leadership team turned its attention to Claughton Middle School. Dr. Hinojosa organized the Cougar cheerleaders a few moments before Principal Rodney Louis was brought to the school gymnasium. He was all smiles as he entered to loud cheers and the announcement that he was the Spring ISD Secondary Principal of the Year.
“I was totally surprised, and then when I saw my brother and my wife, I was like ‘wow!’” said Louis, who added that his campus team has put in a lot of work at Claughton to ensure student success.
“Throughout last summer, for the entire month of July, we planned and organized everything that we wanted to do for the upcoming year, and we executed our plan and we were fortunate to get the academic gains that we received,” Louis said.
Dr. Hinojosa said the importance of awarding these honors each year cannot be underestimated, and that the Spring community should take special pride in this celebration.
“These events give us the opportunity to recognize the hard work and dedication of our principals. I’ll tell you, year after year this never gets old. Each one of our principals’ dedication shines through, and for us it is so important to take the time to recognize the hard work that they do day in and day out,” Hinojosa said.
Garcia and Louis will advance to the Region 4 Principal of the Year competition, and will also be recognized at the district’s annual Employee Recognition Banquet to be held later this year.
