You may have noticed a few new faces on campus, saying “Good Morning” at the gates or when you walk into the office. Well, Don Antonio Lugo High School has opened its arms to two new Vice Principals, Dr. Eckersol and Dr. Ramirez! These new additions to the Don Lugo staff will help the school come even closer together as a family.

Dr. Ramirez, full name Dr. Gabriel Ramirez, started working as one of Don Lugo’s Vice Principals in early August this year.  Dr. Ramirez has had many jobs in the past, but his favorite past job was surprisingly his first as an employee at KFC. “It was just fun, everyone was just having a good time all the time. It didn’t feel like work to be quite honest.”

He eventually became assistant manager as a high school student, but sadly had to quit due to having to go to university, eventually leading him to get his doctorate in education. Having been in private school more many years, Dr. Ramirez turned back to public school leading him to our Don Lugo campus. Although new on campus, he has been making an effort to meet and speak to the students as often as possible. In the morning he greets the students everyday, he feels a lot more comfortable here due to the friendly students, the beautiful campus and helpful staff.

Also incoming is Dr. Eckersol! Full name Michelle Eckersol, she’s fairly new to Lugo coming here in late July but having worked in the district since 1998 as a professional, and before that as a student. Much like students here at Don Lugo, Dr. Eckersol also had her fair share of teenage jobs before working in the district. The one she remembers as being the most entertaining was working at a frozen yogurt shop in high school, “During the winter not a lot of people are getting frozen yogurt, so I could get my homework done.”Dr. Eckersol became our Vice Principal for a change of pace. “I wanted to fill some professional roles, I didn’t work a lot with discipline before so I wanted to do more with that, I missed being around the students so I wanted to come back”.

Neither Dr. Ramirez or Dr. Eckersol have a solid plan for the school yet, having just become a member of the staff. Although Dr. Eckersol does hope to have a positive year, a rise in graduation rates, rise in A-G completion rate, and a drop in students late to school. Dr. Ramirez wants to support the students and their interests in a genuine way. Dr. Ramirez also wants to create new opportunities so that more students could get involved with the school’s community. “I want to support the faculty, staff, and the families.”

It seems as though our new Vice Principals are excited for their new year at Don Lugo and will help the school grow in different ways it hadn’t before. They’re excited to be here and so make sure to show them what Don Lugo is really about. Be sure to introduce yourself and show them the conquistador way when you see them on campus.