In celebration of National Principals Month, we are featuring the talented campus leaders on ResponsiveEd campuses across Texas and Arkansas. This week’s featured principal is Westchase Classical Academy Campus Director, and Westchase neighborhood advocate Diana Castillo. It’s hard to imagine a more qualified leader or a leader who is a better example of persistence for her students. The Ivy League graduate and 13-year educator grew up in the neighborhood and returned to make a difference.
How long have you worked in education?
I have been in education for thirteen years. I taught for ten years and this is my third year as campus director at Westchase Classical.
What prompted you to work in education?
When I was three years old, my father was kidnapped and taken for ransom in Mexico. Thankfully, we were able to pay the ransom and get him back. After that point, my parents fled Mexico and immigrated to the United States. My mom realized the best thing for us was a quality education and the local public school was not up to her standards. Luckily a new public charter school opened nearby and offered a better fit, no-cost education for me and my family. That decision was the spark that carried me to graduate from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. I remember one day it dawned on me that I am so fortunate to have received a quality education. My situation should be the norm, every student should have the opportunity to receive the same thing I did. That’s why I decided to come back home and give back to the community where I grew up.
Your first year as a campus director was the 2019-20 school year and the start of school closure due to COVID-19. What was that like for you and your team?
My first two years have been very interesting, to say the least. 2019-20 was my first school year as a campus director and it was the inaugural school year for our campus. The most heartbreaking COVID-19 challenge we faced happened this school year with the passing of our friend, colleague, and community leader Ben Garcia. He was known as a beacon of light to everyone who knew him. After he passed, I called every single teacher to make sure we had a personal conversation about how they were dealing with the loss. This was not just a headline in the local news, we felt like we lost a member of our family. While it has been hard, this situation definitely brought us closer as a school unit.
What is the best part about being a campus director?
One hundred percent of what drives me is building relationships. These kids are so beautiful, the parents are so incredible, and the kind things they say make me feel so fulfilled. I couldn’t imagine my life without my students. I’m thinking about one student in particular who regularly tells me he loves me, and I get that all the time.
What is the most challenging part about being a campus director?
Juggling the priorities and needs of my family with the social, emotional, and academic needs of our scholars. I never stop thinking about my kids, but I feel a sense of responsibility for our entire community. I want to help everyone succeed.
What advice would you give future principals and current principals?
Build relationships with your families and understand their needs so that you can foster an environment that is centered around the child. I remind my teachers that when parents drop off their children at our school, they are dropping off a piece of their heart. It is our job to make sure that each scholar is taken care of when they’re with us. The impact on scholars should be at the core of every decision we make as administrators. We are helping shape kind, intelligent citizens of this world, who will be our future, so we must take our jobs seriously.
Keep up with Westchase Classical Academy via social media at facebook.com/westchaseclassicalacademy.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
