Coronado welcomes Principal Escareno

After three months of interviews, Coronado High School welcomed fellow T-Bird Marc Escareno as its new principal on June 4^th, 2018.

Before being hired at Coronado, Escareno had been working as an assistant principal at Franklin for nine years. He was also the principal of Kohlberg Elementary, and an assistant principal at Austin High School, Andress High School, and Stanton Elementary. Escareno first worked as a teacher at Burges High School before moving up to administrative positions in the 2000’s.

Escareno says that his dream was to come back to the school he graduated from. “It’s like coming full circle for me,” Escareno said.

Escareno has named the effective implementation of 90-minute class periods as a top priority this school year. “I want to make sure teachers feel comfortable with block schedule,” Escareno said.

Escareno further wishes to improve college readiness by closing achievement gaps year to year. “We’ll be looking at the amount of how many people who retake the STAAR test as well as their course grades,” Escareno said.

Transparency between students, faculty, staff, and parents has also been noted as an important goal for this school year. “I want to ensure that students and teachers feel comfortable to come up and talk to me,” Escareno said.

In efforts to encourage communication and transparency across the school, a principal advisory committee composed of students and parents will be established. “This committee is open to any student or teacher who wants to join,” Escareno said.

While he was an assistant principal at Franklin, Escareno was in charge of security and discipline on campus. As a result, students will be required to wear their I.D. badges at all times. “There are students from other campuses who come to Coronado during lunch, so I want to make sure that we know exactly who’s on our campus,” Escareno said.

Also, students must sign out of class with their name, the date, and the time before going to the bathroom.

Due to multiple threats made against Coronado and EPISD schools last year, students are advised to be vigilant in hallways, during transition periods, before school, after school, and during lunch.

“We’re unique because we have multiple buildings, which makes it easier for people who don’t go to Coronado to enter the campus,” Escareno said.

Students may report suspicious behavior anonymously via an app called AnonymousAlerts. “We always take threats very seriously and investigate them thoroughly,” Escareno said.

In addition, there are tighter measures in place for e-cigarette or drug use on campus.

Escareno hopes to make this a safe, successful school year. For information on construction updates or parking rules, click here.