Mauricio Marquez recently made what he describes as the hardest decision of his career. That was to move from principal of Odessa High School to becoming an executive director of leadership for Ector County ISD.
Marquez has just completed his 24th year with the district. This is the only district he has been with.
“All of my experience, all of my service has been to the ECISD community,” he said.
Marquez grew up in Monahans and graduated from Monahans High School.
He took an associate degree from Midland College. Marquez earned a bachelor’s in political science with a minor in history and a master’s in educational leadership, both from University of Texas Permian Basin.
He and his wife, Crystal, have two children.
Marquez was at OHS for five years. Previously, he was at Crockett Middle School for seven years and Blackshear for three years as principal.
Before that, he was an assistant principal at Burleson Elementary and the magnet program director at Ector Junior High. He also taught U.S. and Texas history there.
Taking on the executive leadership role was a difficult decision.
“… As I’ve shared with some folks, my kids — talking about my students — feed my soul. … People think I’m crazy because every summer I am anxiously awaiting for our kids to return. So this will be an interesting experience for me and that for the last 24 years I’ve always reported specifically to a school, and the last 15 years as the campus principal,” Marquez said.
“Now I’m sure I will be visiting schools day one. But ultimately, obviously, I won’t be the campus principal. It hasn’t hit me yet; to some degree it has, but not to the full extent. I think day one will be definitely when it’ll hit me of this new transition for me,” he added.
So why did he make the decision?
“It was various people tapping me on the shoulder and telling me to consider this opportunity in being able to have a broader impact in our community, in ECISD, in our system. I can tell you I’ve been blessed, I really have. I’ve been blessed that at every school that I’ve been at, all five, that’s Odessa High, Crockett, Blackshear, Burleson, Ector, I have truly been blessed that I’ve worked with amazing individuals. We’ve had amazing success at every school. That only happened because of the amazing individuals that I’ve had the pleasure and honor to work with at every school. These last five years have been probably one of the most rewarding experiences for me as a high school principal just because of everything that it entails that comes with being a high school principal,” Marquez said.
He added that he has been extremely proud of the accomplishments made at Odessa High these last five years.
“Six years ago … Odessa High was rated IR by the state of Texas, which was obviously improvement required. And so year one, obviously through working with the staff we implemented some things that were very beneficial and we made academic gains in every single area. Matter of fact, we had double-digit gains in many areas. And so year two, we continued making academic gains with our students. And then … year three COVID hit and so although this year, although scores are not official at this time, we anticipate that our scores are released next month in August, that we’re pretty confident that we will be moving up an entire letter grade,” he said.
“That would not have happened if it wasn’t for our students, our teachers and staff being very intentional in supporting our kids. I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to increase the graduation rate. We’ve been able to re-validate as a national AVID demonstration school two times during that five-year span, so I’m extremely proud of all the accomplishments that we’ve had as a system. But what I’m most proud of, is how we collectively as an Odessa High-Broncho family, have really taken care of kids and all that that entails academically, social-emotionally, through some of the most challenging times, whether it be COVID, whether it be having to come back to school in a hybrid model, or virtual learning,” Marquez said.
Also during the last five years, Odessa experienced the mass shooting.
“… Not only did it impact all of the Ector County community, it impacted Odessa High even even more so, because of us losing one of our own with Leilah Hernandez passing. A lot of challenges that have come in recent years. We’ve had a lot of success and so what I’m mostly proud of is the fact that our staff has stepped up to the plate and really taken to heart about being very intentional in taking care of our kids in every possible way academically, social- emotionally, and ensuring that their needs have been met. And so although we’ve done very well over the years, we also know that there is room for improvement. The school is set up in a way that it will continue to make gains and so for that I’m indebted to my teachers and staff for the five amazing years of having the opportunity to work alongside my team,” Marquez added.
As an executive director of leadership, Marquez will be overseeing 11 campuses at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
He added that he is looking forward to a new chapter in his life.
“… I’m excited about having an opportunity to impact our ECISD community in a broader way. At Odessa High, obviously, I was directly responsible for 4,000 students and approximately 280 staff members, if you will. In this role, I’ll have the opportunity to truly impact the system on a broader scale, because now I will be working alongside 11 principals and helping them through their journey of providing the best support to their teams,” Marquez said.
Although he loved being a principal, he said his new role is really about providing direction and developing people.
“They have their principal. I will not be the principal. And so my responsibility is in providing direction and developing our principals so that hopefully, through that process, they’re able to impact their system in a positive way,” he said.
His hope is that he’ll have a chance to go back and say hello to the students and staff at OHS.
“I’m sure I will be very busy in my new role. But, hopefully, one day I’ll have the opportunity to still be able to go and visit. I told my kids I don’t say goodbye. And like I told my teachers, I don’t say goodbye, I tell you until our paths cross again. And so even at graduation as I told our graduating seniors, just because you graduated doesn’t mean that our journeys go separate ways. We will always be here to provide you with support, even though you’ve already graduated. Odessa High School will always be home to you and so please know that if you need something reach out to us because we can still provide support and help because at the end of the day, it’s about how do we continue to provide assistance and support to the kids that we serve in Ector County,” Marquez said.
Asked if he wanted to become a superintendent some day, he said that is something that he will maybe someday consider.
“At this time, my focus and energy is to continue learning and growing and doing the best I can in the position that I’m currently in,” Marquez said.
He added that he never intended to become a principal.
“… I was 18 years old when I knew what I was going to do with my life. I knew I was going to be a teacher and impact kids in a positive way. And the reason for that was because teachers had a tremendous impact on me as a student,” Marquez said.
“I do believe that as a system, especially for many of our kids here in Ector County, we are their only opportunity to truly transform and change their lives through education. Like I told my kids at Odessa High, education is their golden ticket for many of our kids. That is the only way that they can break away from the current situation that they find themselves in. I always tell kids, look, no one decides where you’re born … No one gets to choose their parents. You can’t go to the local Walmart and exchange them for new ones.”
“What I do tell them is if you truly take advantage of the education system, your life will be transformed for the better so use the system in a way to truly transform not only your life, but your family’s life; because through education, I really believe that it is generational. It will break the cycle for many of our kids when it comes to poverty,” Marquez added.
Through his journey of being a teacher, a veteran teacher who taught across the hall from him encouraged him during his first year to go back to school and get his master’s.
“She made me the team lead in my first year. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t even know what I was doing as a first-year teacher. I said how do you want me to run my colleagues when they have more years of experience than I do and she said, you have a gift and you need to go back to school. One day you need to be running your own school. I actually listened and I went back to school and that’s how I got my master’s. Through that journey, I went back to school and got my master’s in educational leadership. And then opportunities came my way. I had amazing support and mentors. Martha Mitchell is certainly … a person that I give a lot of credit to as far as my career because of her providing me with my first opportunity and really learning from her as my mentor,” he said.
Marquez added that he has always done the best he could in the position that he was in.
“… I was blessed that people took notice and gave me an opportunity at the next position, if you will. And so God has been good to me that I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing people in this district,” he added.
Chief of Schools Keeley Boyer said Marquez is extremely passionate about student success.
“He has successfully led three schools here in ECISD and we are excited to have him share his experience with our school leaders,” Boyer said.
