From Chemist to Principal: Celebrating the Accomplishments of an Aldine Leader

October is National Principals Month, and Aldine ISD has great principals to highlight. One of those principals is deSantiago’s principal Juan Toscano. Principal Toscano first worked for the Aldine district in 1997. He started in Aldine as a fourth-grade teacher at Magrill. From there, he worked his way up to his current position as the principal of deSantiago School.

Principal Toscano was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. Throughout his schooling, he had a love for science, and this is what led him to become a chemist. While working as a chemist in Monterrey, he found himself considering a career change. Soon after, he found himself at an educational job fair that Aldine was hosting in the city.

After interviewing for the kindergarten teacher position, Aldine made Toscano an offer to start immediately. He and his family packed up their things on a Friday, moved to a new country on Saturday, and started his new job as a fourth-grade teacher on Monday.

Toscano made plenty of connections with the families of his community. For a brief moment, he left the district, but came back to Aldine soon after as the assistant principal of Keeble.

“I wanted to come back to my roots,” said Toscano. “I wanted to help the community that I had become close to.”

Those roots can be seen in two different ways. They can be seen in the context that Aldine was where Toscano first moved to when he immigrated to the U.S. They can also be seen in the context that Aldine ISD is a school district in which the vast majority of students are of Hispanic heritage, and that the majority of the students that Toscano serves, the majority of the community, all share these common Hispanic roots.

For Hispanic Heritage Month, Toscano promotes the diversity of cultures within his campus. He pushes the staff and students to share their cultures with the others.

“We have teachers from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and I encourage them to share their culture with the students,” said Toscano. “We are a very diverse group, and I want to be sure that we expose our students to that great diversity early on.”

To celebrate both Hispanic Heritage Month and National Principals Month, Principal Juan Toscano is an easy choice to make. From his story of success as an immigrant from Mexico, to his dedication to being a leader for his students and community, Toscano sets a great example for the values that Aldine ISD looks to highlight.