Rita Graves has been selected as the new principal for Lamar High School. Graves has served HISD for 20 years, starting as a first-grade teacher and reading specialist at Poe Elementary School. She then served as magnet coordinator and dean of magnet students at Pin Oak Middle School, a foreign language magnet school and National Blue Ribbon School, where she started a Chinese language program to complement the existing language program. Graves served as principal of Roberts Elementary School for six years and Pin Oak for three years. She has served on the U.S. Department of Education’s NAEP Principals’ Panel since 2014 and also participates on the NAEP Transcript Study Advisory Panel. Graves currently serves on the board of Texas Association of Secondary School Principals and is the former president of the Houston Association of School Administrators. Graves graduated from the University of Houston and was named Outstanding Young Alumna in 1998.