Edgardo B. Castro

Lincoln Elementary School
Gallup McKinley County Schools
Gallup, New Mexico
ecastro1@gmcs.org

Edgardo Castro began his career as an educator over two decades ago in various capacities: as an elementary math teacher, an ELD Specialist, and an assistant principal. Four years into his career as principal of Lincoln Elementary, Castro has already proven himself an accomplished turnaround leader committed to culturally responsive and socially just public education. Serving a rural, multicultural, multilingual student population with universal participation in the free and reduced price meals program, Castro is committed to advocating for Lincoln families while engaging them as problem-solvers and drivers of change. For example, three years ago, he implemented academic parent-teacher teams to identify barriers to learning and proactively seek solutions. This process has built trust and led to initiatives such as the school’s social-emotional learning program. Embedded across the curriculum and grade level teams, the program aims to increase student connection to the school community by developing their intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in support of healthy interpersonal relationships, teamwork, and collaboration, and has led to improved attendance and decreased behavioral referrals. Under Castro’s leadership, Lincoln was recognized with the 2017 GMCS Excellence Award for academic gains. He was also recognized with the 2017 GMCS Excellence Award for academic gains. Castro is a Ph.D. candidate at New Mexico State University, a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Turnaround Principal Program, and a participant in the New Mexico Department of Education Principals Pursuing Excellence program. He holds an M.S. in Leadership from Old Dominion University and a B.S. in Elementary Education.