Alonzo Reynolds III still remembers the day he started at Spring ISD: June 12, 2015. Nearly a decade later, he can count himself as one of the few people to have led all three of the comprehensive high schools in the district. 

Earlier this month, Reynolds was announced as the new principal of Spring High School – after six and a half years at Dekaney High School, and two and a half years at Westfield before that. He took the position for the same reason he has taken every job he has ever had: the students.

“I did it for the kids of Spring High School,” Reynolds said. “Yes, it was difficult to leave Dekaney and the kids of Dekaney and that community, but I also believe the work I set out to do there had been done. And I’m looking forward to putting in the work here at Spring.”

The foundation of that work, as he puts it, has always been collaboration and building trust with teachers, students, and parents.

“I’m not walking in saying everyone needs to trust me because of my past work,” he said. “I am not asking anybody to automatically respect me. I am going to earn their trust and their respect based on what we do for the kids. People can always doubt what you say. But they will believe what you do.”

And what the veteran educator – with decades of experience in education and almost a decade with Spring ISD as a principal – does is create sustainable and actionable plans for his campuses that focuses on creating the best environment for students and teachers. 

And his goal is simple.

“We want to create a school where teachers can teach, and students can learn,” he said. 

Throughout his career, Reynolds has served in a variety of leadership roles including teacher, coach, graduation specialist, assistant principal, and principal. Before coming to Spring, he worked in Aldine ISD, Fort Bend ISD, and KIPP Houston Public Schools. Reynolds – who holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Prairie View A&M University – was once named the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Region 4 Principal of the Year. 

He joined Spring ISD in 2015 as principal of Westfield High School. After serving as principal at Westfield, he was asked to lead Dekaney High School and joined that campus in January 2018. 

He is now leading Spring High School – the original and oldest high school in the district – with a plan to include everyone.

“Everybody’s going to have some input into the plan, and then we just expect everybody to do their part to improve our school for our kids,” Reynolds said. “The kids have a part in that as well. As do the staff members, all the parents, all the kids, all the administrators, the counselors, everybody has a part in improving our school.”

Reynolds has a time-tested way to come up with that plan, something he calls “Keep, Stop, Start.” Stakeholders from all over the campus – parents, students, staff – are asked to participate in a survey to name things and processes to keep, stop, or start.

“So for all those things that we need to keep, we make it part of our plan for moving forward within the school. Those things that we need to stop, we need to look at those and see what they are. And if it’s something that is communicated consistently throughout the survey, then yes, we stop doing those things. And then the things that we need to start doing – if it’s going to benefit our students and our school – we’ll start doing those,” he said.

It is a system that he has used before, but Reynolds points out that it is a system that allows for variability and adaptation, and a way to gather feedback from the community.

“The systems are the same, but what you plug into those systems is different,” he said. “And that’s based on the feedback and the people and the teachers and students and parents who respond.”

From there, he plans to make communication a big part of the everyday processes on campus. He is going to meet with the 10 assistant principals on campus in a daily meeting, with weekly meetings with what he called the Instructional Council, or the department chairs and other campus leaders. 

One of the things he would like to accomplish right away is re-establishing long standing traditions that have fallen away over the years. He also wants to add structure and clear communication to the campus culture.

“I want everybody to understand the systems and process of how we do things. I want parents to know. I want the staff to know. I want the kids to know. This is how we do things at Spring High School,” he said. “And then there’s no question about how we do things. And then it becomes a part of the school, and it becomes systematic, and it just runs that much more smoothly.”

For Reynolds, the way to get there is easy: together. He estimates that there are about 220 staff members at Spring High School. 

“I’ll say 200 staff. Ten counselors. Ten administrators. That’s 220. Plus, one principal. That’s 221,” he said. “If 221 of us are on the same team, working together to improve Spring High School and on the same page, those 3,000 kids are going to walk and they are going to want to be a part of what we are doing. That’s going to be the only way we can do it.”

Reynolds knows that there are some people who perceive the school based on things they might see online, but he reiterates that Spring High School is more than just that.

“I won’t let a small portion stop the majority from enjoying what’s happening here in school,” he said. Because it’s a small population that gives this perception that the school isn’t safe and it’s not a good school.So we’re going to rebuild that trust. We’re going to rebuild that respect. And then that status of us being the flagship school for Spring ISD will come back. Nothing can take away that this is a flagship school.”

The veteran educator is looking forward to starting the 2024-25 school year in a few weeks, and is excited to be a part of the process of building a brand new Spring High School campus – slated to open in the summer of 2028. As parents, students, and teachers get ready for the first day of school on Aug. 14, his message to the Spring High School community is simple.

“Be encouraged,” Reynolds said. “The Lion pride will rise and shine through all of Spring High.”