Tony Hernandez used to walk the halls of Avalon ISD as a student. For the past several years he walked these same halls as a math teacher and volleyball coach. Today, he walks the Avalon ISD halls as the district’s assistant principal.

Tony Hernandez graduated from Avalon ISD in 1998 and went on to graduate from UTA with a Bachelor degree in History. He then decided to get his Masters degree in Education Administration and graduated from Lamar University in August, 2010. He is married to Holly Hernandez who also works at Avalon ISD as a teacher. They have one three year old daughter named Kendall.

When Hernandez started working at Avalon ISD, he taught math for five years, and for eight years he was head volleyball coach. Now in his new position as assistant principal he is the transportation and maintenance director, he is over discipline and still assists in volleyball.

When asked how it felt to be back at his alma mater but on the other “side of the fence” Hernandez replied, “For me as a student here playing basketball and baseball (that is all we had at the time) it was great. The community was great. I really enjoyed going to school here and I knew when I came back from college I would teach here. I have a lot of pride in my school and the community and love it here. I am glad they have decided to renovate the old gym rather than tear it down. When I walk in that old gym it just brings back the memories.”

He went on to say, “When I transitioned over to this role as assistant principal it was another opportunity just to have more of a say in what goes on with the school and might allow me to get the community to help out more. For me, I have a lot at stake here, even though I live in Waxahachie, this is all I know, this is my home. I want things to stay the way they are supposed to be so when I was offered the job of assistant principal I took it”

“We do not sit back and settle. We always want to make sure we are climbing to the top and are successful. It starts with Dr. DelBosque (superintendent) and goes all the way down to the kids. We just don’t settle, we do the best we can. There is always something else that we can do to make sure we are not complacent. I think that goes across the whole board for the school board, faculty, staff and students. Everyone here wants to do more and wants to make sure that as a district we are always succeeding,” Hernandez explained when asked why Avalon ISD was so special to him.

When asked what his feelings were about Avalon ISD Hernandez said, “I fill with pride when I think of Avalon ISD. For me and my family this is like pride in family. When the students leave here I want them to remember Avalon as a home they can come back to, that Avalon ISD is a family and a place they can be proud of.”