Gregory-Portland ISD leader wants her district to ‘wonder constantly’

How Superintendent Michelle Cavazos encourages her staff at a top rural school district to be disruptive and innovative for students.

Gregory-Portland ISD and Superintendent Michelle Cavazos have been racking up accolades lately and “strategic alignment” is one of the keys to their success. That means the Texas district’s central office and each of its schools are pursuing the same four priorities: exceptional student performance, employee satisfaction, community engagement and effective operations.

“We equate it to rowing a boat—when you have all the rowers in alignment and in sync with their rowing, you go a lot further faster,” Cavazos explains. “When a system has a rower out of sync, they may be turning in circles or there may be extra paddling in there.”