HISD Names Dr. Alicia Hill Thomas As Deputy Chief Academic Officer

Dr. Alicia Hill Thomas, who ascended from the teaching ranks to the post of Chief Instructional Officer during a 36-year career with the North East Independent School District, has been named Deputy Chief Academic Officer of the Houston Independent School District.

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier today announced Thomas’ hiring.

“Students in San Antonio have made great academic strides under Dr. Thomas’ leadership and I am confident in her ability to help HISD provide every child with a rigorous education that prepares them for college and a great career,” Grier said.

Thomas has served as North East ISD’s Chief Instructional Officer since 2001 and the 66,000-student district has earned the state’s “recognized” accountability rating for three consecutive years. During three of the last 10 years, North East ISD boasted more “exemplary” rated schools than all other Bexar County school districts combined.

Under Thomas’ leadership, North East ISD significantly increased special education students’ access to the general curriculum, and special education student test scores climbed. Thomas also developed an individual data coaching process for principals that emphasizes the use of student academic data to drive teaching practices. She created an in-house data management system that makes it easy for every teacher and principal to track each student’s academic progress.

Thomas was principal of Jackson-Keller Elementary School in 1994, when she won the Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education for her work connecting that school with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Thomas joined North East ISD as a teacher in 1974 and has worked as a principal, assistant for Leadership Design and Support, and executive director for Research and Information Technologies. She is currently an adjunct professor at Trinity University’s Tomorrow’s Leaders masters in school administration program and at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cooperative Superintendency Program.

As Deputy Chief Academic Officer, Thomas will guide HISD’s effort to prepare all students for college and careers by giving every child equal access to quality educational programs. She will report directly to Grier.