School Support Officer Announcement: Middle Schools Office

Benjamin Hernandez is a new School Support Officer for the Middle Schools Office. He began his career in HISD in 1997 as a PE teacher at Bonner Elementary School.

Hernandez also served as a kindergarten bilingual teacher and a fifth-grade teacher at Lantrip Elementary School. During his time with HISD, Hernandez has held the position of Teacher Development Specialist, an academic program manager of TIF 3 and TIF 4 federal grants, principal of Sherman Elementary, and principal of Marshall Middle School. After leading Marshall Middle School to an overall TEA rating of a B with 4 distinction designations, Hernandez was recruited to work as an Executive Director in Spring ISD. Hernandez earned both his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Educational Administration from the University of Houston and is currently completing his Doctor of Education as part of the University of Texas Cooperative Superintendency Program.

School Support Officer Announcement: High School Office

Joseph Chandler has been selected as a new School Support Officer for high schools. Chandler has been a teacher, department chair, assistant principal, associate principal, and principal in four different school districts across Texas. While principal of Macario Garcia Middle School in Fort Bend ISD, the campus was recognized by the Houston Chronicle for their academic gains in subpopulations. During his principalship at Fort Bend’s Willowridge High School, he led the campus out of IR in one year. In addition, Willowridge earned distinctions for academic excellence and increased its graduation rate under his tenure. As principal of Brenham High School, Chandler was recognized by Region 6 with the Innovative Principal Leadership Award in 2019. He is an alumnus of Raise Your Hand Texas (2018) and Rice Leadership Partners (2019). Chandler earned his bachelor’s degree at Saint Meinrad College and his master’s degree from the University of Houston.