4 Former Teachers, UTEP Grads Named YISD Principals

Four former teachers who graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso were named principals of schools in the Ysleta Independent School District, officials announced Tuesday.

Roxanne Merfa, who was the assistant principal at North Star Elementary School for the past five years, will lead Parkland Elementary School. She started teaching at Mesa Vista Elementary as a fifth-grade teacher in 1998. Merfa graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education degree, and received a masters degree in Educational Administration from UTEP in 2003.

Lisa Lopez will be the new principal of Del Valle Elementary School. She was the principal at Desertaire Elementary School for the past four years. Lopez began her teaching career in 1996 as a high school English teacher at Austin High School in the El Paso District, and moved to YISD in 1999 as a teacher at Parkland Middle School. Lopez received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the UTEP in 1995. She received her Masters of Education in Administration from Sul Ross State University in 2001.

The former assistant principal at Elfida Chavez Elementary School, Elizabeth Castro, was named principal of Tierra Del Sol Elementary School. Elfida Chavez Elementary was recognized as an exemplary campus in the Socorro Independent School District. She first taught science and health at Montwood High School in 1995. Castro, who was named TEPSA Region 19 assistant principal of the year for 2010-11, attended Ysleta Elementary, Ysleta Middle and graduated from Ysleta High School. She received a Bachelor of Science in Health Education degree from UTEP in 1995. In 1997, she received a Master of Guidance and Counseling degree from Sul Ross State University.

Gloria Olivas Levins, who has taught in the district for 24 years, was named principal for Cedar Grove Elementary School. She taught first-graders beginning in 1978 at Ysleta Elementary School. She was also a principal in the Tornillo Independent School District from 1989-95. In 1995, she was named principal at Glen Cove Elementary. Levins also graduated from UTEP,. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary science in 1977. She graduated with a master?s degree from Stephen F. Austin State University.