ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The new school year is about to begin and USD 480 recently welcomed a new face to the family.
Dr. Maria Gomez-Rocque was recently officially hired as the district’s assistant superintendent of academics and as she tells it, she is no stranger to the education field.
“This is my 23rd year in education, I started in 2001 as a bilingual teacher in the Katy ISD in Katy, Texas, which is a suburb west of Houston. I taught for five years and then moved into administration,” Gomez-Rocque said. “I became an assistant principal and was in that position for 10 years in that district and later became the principal of a trilingual school that served students in kindergarten through 8th grade, and that school had students who spoke English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, which was a really neat experience. I was also the principal at a pre-K through 12 school, which was also interesting and gave me a lot of good experience. I've also got district office experience, I was the supervisor of early childhood programs at 20 schools in the Houston area and Fort Bend ISD in Sugarland, Texas. I've also served as an assistant superintendent, and this is my fifth year in such a role. I'm very happily married to a very supportive husband, who works as a chiropractor in the Katy, Texas area, and he'll actually be staying there his practice. I also have three children and three grandchildren.”
However, Gomez-Rocque admitted, her career did not exactly go the traditional route.
“I didn't take the traditional route, at all. I graduated high school, got married and started my family. Eight years later, I didn't have any background in education, but I was looking for a career field to get into, and having a family, I knew I wanted to go into a field where I had a similar schedule to my children,” Gomez-Rocque said. “After eight years, I started at West Texas A&M, and that's when I chose education, and I've loved it ever since. I've been able to develop that passion for education, and a passion for helping all the students I come across. My doctorate is in special populations, and that includes early childhood, bilingual, ESL, and Special Education, so that's where my heart really is, but I love helping all students.”
Ultimately, her interest then shifted to the administration side of the field.
“In my second year of teaching as a bilingual teacher, I was asked to be a bilingual team leader, and I actually started as a 5th grade team leader, and then in my third year of teaching, I became a bilingual team leader for our bilingual team, which served students in the pre-K through 5th grade school,” Gomez-Rocque said. “My principal saw the potential there, and I hadn't previously ever thought about going into administration, but she encouraged me to start in the administration program, which I did, and I've loved it ever since. The teacher in the classroom makes such a huge impact on their students, and in administration, you're helping make an impact for the teachers and the other leaders, which I absolutely love. I love empowering our staff, and I hope to do that here.”
After some time, Gomez-Rocque said, her career then brought her to USD 480, and she is excited for the opportunity.
“I actually wasn't really looking, this all just rather happened by chance. My father lives in Spearman, Texas, he's 94 years old, and I knew I wanted to be closer to him so I could spend more time with him, so the fact that I could go see him more often was definitely a big bonus. This position just came up, and I had no idea which way everything would go – I applied, put it in God's hands, and now here I am,” Gomez-Rocque said. “I'm very excited with the redesign and this position that was created, assistant superintendent of academics. I love helping students, and I know we all have our work cut out for us, but we're going to get some growth from our teachers and faculty and staff, so I'm really excited about that. I can't wait to get into the classrooms and get into the buildings and see everything in action.”
Gomez-Rocque then went into more detail about what all her position will entail.
“I will be working with curriculum and instruction. On the curriculum side, I'll be doing a curriculum audit to see what curriculum resources are being utilized, so we're in the process of creating a survey for the building principals to fill out so we can learn more about what resources are being used in the classrooms,” Gomez-Rocque said. “On the instruction side, I'll be visiting classrooms and providing feedback and helping administrators grow that lens as well. We're really good about being managers, but our focus will be on developing that instructional lens as well so we can continue to get better.”
Gomez-Rocque started in her new role just last week, and she said she hit the ground running.
“I recently finished meeting with USD 480 leadership, and one of the things I'll be helping create here soon is a schedule so we can get into the buildings and classrooms and continue to grow our leaders and provide that feedback,” Gomez-Rocque said. “My main focus going into the buildings here at the beginning is to make sure we have a positive culture in all of our USD 480 buildings and provide that feedback, and if there's anything that needs to be tweaked or fixed, we'll be doing that. We'll start with the culture piece and then move more toward the instruction around September.”
With the school year starting shortly, Gomez-Rocque said she is excited to be working with USD 480 and the Liberal community.
“I'm really excited for the staff to know how I'm excited to be working alongside them. We can all learn from each other, and I can't wait to learn more about some of the different traditions and the various activities and events that will be going on at the different buildings. I'm really excited to get to know everyone,” Gomez-Rocque said. “I love communities, and I really immerse myself into wherever I am, and in the short time I've been in Liberal, I've loved the welcoming atmosphere and everyone I've met so far has been so, so welcoming and warm and supportive. I get very involved with the community wherever I am, and I'm looking forward to building partnerships with city leadership and Seward County Community College and the economic development staff and everyone I can. I'm hoping to build those partnerships because I feel like they're very important as far as helping build up the community. We're all here for our faculty and staff and students, and we all need to work together to help make that impact.”
Gomez-Rocque also offered encouragement for people in the community to get in touch with her office with any questions.
“I would just want everyone to know I have an open-door policy, and I'm also bilingual, so if there is anyone who has any questions or concerns for me, don't hesitate to reach out, and I'll be happy to help as much as I can,” Gomez-Rocque said.
