The new principal of Bonham Middle School is going back to his roots as an educator and administrator.
Working in Ector County ISD the past three years, Juan Dominguez has been leadership coordinator, assistant principal at Permian High School and most recently acting principal at Bonham.
He was named the permanent campus chief in May. Dominguez replaces Mareka Austin.
Previously, he was in Midland for 20 years, where he coached, taught and served as an assistant principal and principal.
Early on, he worked in Pecos and did his student teaching in Imperial.
He also was recently named Professional of the Year for ECISD.
A native of Comstock near Del Rio, he attended Sul Ross State University majoring in kinesiology with a minor in Spanish. Dominguez earned a master’s in leadership through the University of Texas Permian Basin and his superintendent’s certification through Region 18 Education Service Center.
“… Back in the day, this was back in the mid-90s, just coming to Odessa to me, it was kind of scary because … it was big compared to what I knew. … Del Rio probably has maybe 30,000. … But coming to Odessa (and) Midland it’s like man these places are huge,” Dominguez said. Together, Dominguez and his wife, Angela, have seven children. Angela Dominguez is an elementary English Language Arts curriculum specialist for the district. As leadership coordinator, Dominguez said a lot of people called him and he tried to help as much as he could.
“… I liked being able to come in and help and make a difference. … That … was what really motivated me to come back into the principalship is just being able to come in and help out, seeing the kids be successful and being a true advocate for all our kids,” Dominguez said. To him, it’s all about serving the community, parents and teachers. Bonham has about 900 students in grades six through eight. On the staffing front, he is still transitioning and he’s looking for people. “… The only thing I look for when I’m looking for people for Bonham are people that love kids, people that care about kids. To me that’s the most important thing,” Dominguez said.
“… We have a variety of kids and we have challenging kids like everybody else, but I want the people that come to work here to be able to relate to the students,” he added. Dominguez got a chance to know the staff as acting principal. “… We’ve got some outstanding, very loving, caring people on this campus. I think that’s kind of what also attracted me to this position is that we all had the same vision and the same goal and that’s to see all of our kids succeed,” he added. Since he was little, Dominguez said, he’s had people to help guide him, mold him and push him in the right direction. “Originally, I just wanted to coach. That’s all I really wanted to get into the profession was for coaching. Life is kind of funny. It kind of opens up other doors and other opportunities and before you know it here we are,” Dominguez said. He has coached football, basketball, track and tennis, both girls and boys. In Comstock, he ran cross country, played basketball and ran track. “… My graduating class was seven. It was a little bitty town so everybody just wanted to participate. Like I said, I think that’s kind of what helped me is the teachers really took you under their wing and they helped you and pushed you,” Dominguez said.
He wants Bonham students to have the same experience.
“… I know it’s a bigger school and more kids, but I want all of our staff members here to take our kids under their wing … Our big push is for them to either continue through post secondary for college or career,” Dominguez said. He wants to see all of the students succeed.
“I want to be able to change adult behaviors so that every child has an opportunity to continue learning. I want to be able to remove as many barriers as possible for our kids. And of course, I want to be able to develop capacity in all our staff; all our teachers. I want them to become leaders I want them to continue growing professionally, as well,” Dominguez said.
He added that he would like more parental involvement and get more students involved in extracurricular activities. Dominguez said he is enthusiastic about the upcoming school year.
“I’m excited about the staff that we’re putting together here and I’m excited to see Bonham really succeed. I know that our parents are on board with us and I look forward to working with them hand in hand to making sure kids succeed,” Dominguez said.
On winning professional of the year honors, Dominguez said it was an honor.
“Working for ECISD, there’s a lot of great, great people. I didn’t expect it to be honest with you, but it’s a true honor to be able to receive that award,” Dominguez said.
“… We do what we do because that’s what we love doing. We don’t do it to get recognition or anything, and so like I said, to me that was a huge surprise,” he added.
Chief of Schools Keeley Simpson said Dominguez is an experienced principal who has led successful school improvement efforts in previous roles.
“He sets high expectations for students and understand the importance of building supportive relationships with every one of them,” Simpson said.
Executive Director of Leadership Erin Bueno said Dominguez is an effective, experienced principal who has positively changed the culture at Bonham.
“He is well respected by the staff and most importantly the students. Mr. Dominguez is visible, active, and involved on campus. Mr. Dominguez will continue to positively impact the students at Bonham Middle School. We are all excited about the growth at Bonham Middle School!” Bueno said.
On Dominguez winning professional of the year, Simpson said it is well deserved.
“He started out the year as our Leadership Coordinator and was excellent as a connector for parents and schools in quickly resolving concerns. He then transitioned to acting principal at Bonham with energy and excitement,” she added.
