Former teacher, coach named to lead new middle school in Hobbs
Andy Brosig/News-Sun
Building something new comes with a whole host of challenges.
What’s it going to look like? What’s the interior design going to be? What about furniture? And staffing?
If building a business from the ground up is hard, think about building a new school. In addition to the regular logistics concerns, the “who” of putting together a new educational home for students is vital, from the top down.
Hobbs Municipal Schools answered at least one of those “who” questions recently, naming Alex Lopez as the first principal of Del Norte Middle School.
The former classroom teacher, coach and, most recently, principal of the senior class at Hobbs High School will occupy the big office at the new campus when it opens in Fall 2027 in Del Norte Estates, near the intersection of North Grimes and Millen Drive in Hobbs.
Lopez has been with Hobbs Municipal Schools for about 13 years. She started out teaching fifth grade at Taylor Elementary for two years before moving to Hobbs High as teacher and head coach of Lady Eagles soccer. About three years ago, she moved into administration at the urging of HHS Principal Jason Parish.
“Mr. Parish just caught me at a really good time,” Lopez told the News-Sun. “I just felt it was a good time to kind of step away from coaching and I felt comfortable leaving the classroom.
“I really wanted to be an advocate for teachers. I had a little bit more of a tug with that and I had the opportunity to join him as he stepped into the role of head principal his first year and he brought me along for the ride.”
Taking over as principal at Del Norte Middle School was something Lopez said she thought, and prayed, long and hard about, she said, before applying for the position. Her career so far, with the exception of the two years teaching at Taylor, has been at HHS. In the end, the opportunity — and the challenges which come with it — at a brand-new school were just too good to pass up, she said.
“The excitement of a brand-new campus and the opportunity to build something from the ground up just really caught my eye,” Lopez said. “I just felt really good about the idea of applying for it.
“I felt like it was the right thing to do. It opened up a door and here we are.”
And, being a new campus, Lopez said she’s aware that brings with it a whole new set of challenges. Not the least of those is staffing, given the fact there’s a shortage of classroom teachers nationwide, she said.
“Teacher shortages are a real thing around the entire nation,” Lopez said. “So must making sure that works out.
“But I think one of the biggest challenges is going to definitely be because it is a brand-new campus. I think, with anything new, there’s going to be … some hidden challenges for sure I’m probably going to find along the way. But I’m ready to attack them either way.”
Lopez was selected from a pool of five applicants, including three from within Hobbs Schools, Superintendent Gene Strickland said. It was, in part, her coaching experience that put her over the top, he said.
“Alex has a unique ability to build a team and bring a group of individuals together for the common good,” Strickland said. “She demonstrated it when she was a classroom teacher and as a soccer coach and she’s demonstrated it at the high school with two different departments.”
One aspect of Hobbs Municipal Schools is the district’s desire to train and nurture future campus leaders via its internal Leadership Pipeline, which brings together teachers and seasoned administrators to build that next generation, ready to step up when campus leaders retire of leave the district. Strickland said having Lopez in that position are ready to move up was “phenomenal.
“It’s really been an honor to see her grow over the last five years from my seat (as superintendent of schools) and see that maturation in her to be able to say I have a desire to make an impact on an entire campus of kids rather than a single department,” Strickland said. “Her willingness and being able to say, ‘I’m here to make a difference and I want to do that as a principal,’ is absolutely special.”
Whether in the classroom or on the athletic field, building relationships is a big part of the job, one Lopez said she believes is one of her strong suits. That’s not going to change as principal of Del Norte Middle School, she said. If anything, the desire and need to keep building relationships will be even stronger.
“I think that’s going to be my core focus,” Lopez said. “Not just with staff and students but also with the community, really just building bridges between the new middle school and the community that is involved in this whole process. For me, I think the vision is to really build those relationships and the new, fresh identity when it comes to Del Norte Middle School.”
