Fred Litton

When the Victoria Independent School District starts classes on Aug. 26, a large number of University of Houston-Victoria alumni will be at the helm to ensure a successful school year.

Sixteen of the 21 new or reassigned administrators are educators who graduated from the UHV School of Education & Human Development. Fred Litton, dean of the school, said the education programs offered at UHV are valuable for regional school districts.

“We are happy to do our part as educational partners,” Litton said. “It’s tremendous that UHV can be an asset to the area by offering higher education and professional credentials to educators. It takes all of us to be effective in providing quality education to the children in our community.”

Litton said the partnership works well because Victoria school district staff members give feedback on UHV’s programs.

“We’ve had a long history of providing certified personnel for Victoria ISD and have turned out some excellent teachers, administrators and counselors,” he said. “The two-way communication is essential for our continued success.”

Steve Carroll

UHV recognized this longstanding partnership during the 2011-2012 President’s Annual Report and Excellence Awards ceremony in November. The Victoria district was awarded the Community Organization Partnership Award because the school district has hired numerous UHV alumni, allowed UHV education majors to get real-world experience by student teaching in classrooms, and partnered with university faculty members on various projects.

Steve Carroll earned his master’s degree in education management from UHV. As a principal at Vickers Elementary for four years, he said that UHV is part of the reason why Victoria is a great community.

“Victoria is incredibly blessed to have UHV right here in our own back yard,” he said. “My professors at UHV taught me a lot about school leadership. Being a principal is the most rewarding and satisfying job I can imagine. Thank you to UHV and all the leaders in our community who work together to support higher education.”

UHV alumni with new administrative positions in the Victoria school district are:

• Lisa Cortez, human resources director of professional services
• Trey Edwards, executive director of administration
• Carol Tippins, associate director of elementary education
• Sherri Hathaway, associate director of accountability
• Lisa Blundell, Victoria East High School principal
• Sheila O’Briant, Liberty Academy and Victoria Area Center for Advanced Learning principal
• Tedrick Valentine, Mitchell Guidance Center principal
• Melissa Correll, Career and Technology Institute principal
• Dawn Maroney, Stroman Middle School principal
• Jill Lau, Cade Middle School principal
• James Taylor, Crain Elementary principal
• Laura Longoria, Guadalupe Elementary and William Wood Elementary principal
• Leandra Hill, Hopkins Elementary principal
• Landon Zamykal, O’Connor Elementary principal
• Sylvia Davila, Shields Elementary principal
• Michelle Graves, Smith Elementary principal

For more information about the UHV School of Education & Human Development, contact the school at education@uhv.edu or 361-570-4262.