Christopher Wood, Principal Intern at Lee High School
In June 2009, Christopher Wood entered the Houston A+ Regional Principal Leadership Academy (RPLA) motivated to develop the prerequisite skills necessary to effectively lead an urban secondary school. His background was extremely impressive. Chris had served with distinction in a variety of leadership and instructional roles, including East Region Reading Trainer, and Assistant Principal at Edison Middle and Chavez High Schools. He began the 2009-10 school year as the Principal Intern at Westside High School in Houston ISD, under the tutelage of his mentor principal, Paul Castro.
During his first semester at Westside, Chris became immersed in the culture and structures of this large, comprehensive, high-performing secondary school that had achieved a TEA Recognized Rating. He distinguished himself as a dynamic and talented education leader. His reflective leadership style has supported his quest to develop the intellectual capital and expertise to help transform schools. Chris is an outstanding member of Cohort II who constantly engages his peers with probing conversations around transformational instructional leadership and academic excellence.
In late January 2010, Westside Principal Paul Castro assumed the principalship of Lee High School, also in Houston ISD. Lee, a complex and challenging school community, has failed to meet state and national academic performance standards for the last three years. Chris chose to transition to Lee with his mentor principal because he views the challenges at Lee as opportunities to further hone his leadership skills to support Mr. Castro in implementing transformational change and revitalization. Chris is enthusiastic about his new assignment, and on a recent visit to Lee, he was observed reviewing data, collaborating with learning community deans, preparing for assessment, and aligning roles and responsibilities. The RPLA program is vested in the development of leaders who have the courage and passion to demand excellence for all children. Christopher Wood is clearly on the right path in that journey.
Re: Christopher Wood, Principal Intern at Lee High School
I believe that Mr. Wood is what a principal should be. I served with him at Chavez and found him to be a true leader, caring about the students and teachers. He was very active in his leadership role. I would serve under Mr. Woods administration without any reservations. He is a great leader and someone that I as an aspiring principal would benefit from his knowledge and skills.