Karina Lopez has been selected as the new principal of Edison Middle School. Lopez has been with HISD since 2010. She began her career at Revere Middle School as a seventh-grade math teacher, then became math department chairperson and a campus instructional coach. While at Revere, she received the Teacher of the Year award and the 2012 Elizabeth Brand Teacher Excellence Award. She has also served as magnet coordinator and assistant principal at Hartman Middle School. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Houston and her Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Richard Smith has been named principal at Edison Middle School. Smith formerly was the principal at Deady Middle School, where he dedicated the last four years in a leadership role as assistant principal and then principal. Under his leadership, Deady Middle School has moved from an Improvement Required campus to a campus that has Met Standard and received multiple distinctions from the state. Smith graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Math and Spanish Education and then went on to earn a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Supervision at the University of Houston. Smith is a proud HISD graduate of Sharpstown High School.

Mayra Hernandez has been named principal of Edison Middle School after serving as the principal of Davila Elementary for the last three years. Under her leadership, Davila transitioned from an “Improved Required” School to a “Met Standard” school. She began her HISD career at Sherman Elementary as a teacher before becoming a teacher specialist and later a reading interventionist. In 2012, she became assistant principal at Davila Elementary.

Hernandez received her associate of arts degree from Houston Community College and her bachelor of arts in interdisciplinary studies from University of Houston-Downtown. She has a masters in educational leadership from Sam Houston State University.