Sci-Tech High School has a new principal this school year, but not a new face. Mr. Sanchez spent last year on campus as principal in residence and stepped into the job after Mr. Sosa left at the end of the year.

Now that he is leading the campus, Sanchez is bringing his own leadership style and goals to Wayside as he works to strengthen academics and help students succeed.

Sanchez has wanted to work in education since he was young.

“I’ve known that since I was probably in middle school, I knew I was gonna be a teacher and coach back when I was still a junior in high school,” Sanchez said.

He started out as a teacher and a coach before moving into administration as an assistant principal, and then came to Wayside as principal in residence. Working next to principals showed him what the job could do for a whole campus.

“When you see them and what they’re able to do for a school, it makes you kind of aspire to reach to what they’re doing,” Sanchez said.

One of Sanchez’s biggest goals is improving students’ academic performance. He wants students to earn higher STAAR, TSI and ACT scores and have more opportunities to qualify for dual-credit classes.

“I think the higher that we can score in STAAR, TSI and ACT scores, the better it is for our kids for their future,” Sanchez said.

That goal already changed the school day. This year Sanchez replaced Raven’s Nest with ELEVATE, a shorter enrichment period built around reading and math.

“ELEVATE is an academic enrichment time. It’s what kind of Raven’s Nest used to be, and what Raven’s Nest was supposed to be,” Sanchez said. “We simply made it shorter, so that it could be more purposeful, and then actually gave it a more intentional academic feel rather than just 60 minutes of sitting there doing nothing.”

Sanchez said the change came out of test scores, especially the TSI, the college-level test students have to pass before they can enroll in dual credit or college classes. Older students now get ACT and TSI prep during ELEVATE, and younger students work on STAAR and TSI material.

“Our scores were very low on these college level tests,” Sanchez said.

The time from Raven’s Nest did not disappear. ELEVATE runs 35 minutes instead of an hour, and the rest went back into longer class periods and about 10 extra minutes of lunch for students and teachers.

Sanchez said the shorter period is also easier on teachers, who used to spend an hour with students who had nothing to do.

“Here, it’s already on IXL, they don’t have to prep anything, it’s a shorter period of time, and there’s actually something for the kids to do without the teachers having to take on a whole new bulk of work,” Sanchez said.

He also believes that having a safe and organized campus helps students focus on learning.

“Everything goes up when the campus runs smooth,” Sanchez said.

Junior student Johanna Quintana said students may need time to adjust because they were used to the previous principal.

“Since we were so accustomed to past principals, like Mr. Sosa, for example, who was with us for years while we were students, we were used to his leadership style,” Johanna said.

Still, she said the campus feels calmer this year.

“Well, I’d say they look after the atmosphere better, and everything is a bit calmer; for example, during lunch, there are about two or three teachers supervising each area to keep things under control and prevent too much of a commotion. In that sense, it’s definitely much better,” Johanna said.

As the school year continues, Sanchez hopes his experience and leadership style will make a positive impact on Wayside Sci-Tech High School.

All news stories are written and produced by Wayside Scholars.