Marcelo Cavazos

It’s a story Arlington ISD Superintendent Dr. Marcelo Cavazos likes to tell when he’s visiting one of the district’s 55 elementary schools.

He talks about growing up in South Texas and picking okra in the summer. The money he earned doing that was used for school supplies and clothes for school, but work stopped once school began. That’s because once the school year started education became the priority for Cavazos.

Flash forward to now and education is still his focus, although the scope for Cavazos is much larger. He’s spent the last seven-plus years as the superintendent of a district of nearly 60,000 students that has undergone massive changes under his leadership.

One thing that hasn’t changed since his okra days is his love for education and his goal to shape the future of every student in the Arlington ISD.

The opportunities students in the Arlington ISD have under Cavazos are endless. Since he became superintendent two major bonds have passed, the 2014 Bond and a $966 million bond that passed in the fall of 2019 that will continue the Arlington ISD on its bold Achieve Today. Excel Tomorrow. strategic plan of having 100 percent of the students graduating exceptionally prepared for college, career and citizenship.

There’s proof of that throughout the district as two fine arts and dual language elementary schools have opened as well as an elementary leadership academy, a world language academy and a nationally certified STEM elementary school. There are also two early college high schools, a high school STEM academy and the Dan Dipert Career and Technical Center.

Cavazos has also shown how adaptable the Arlington ISD is under his leadership. The first day the district was closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic student meals were distributed at 23 locations. The next day students were able to begin online lessons as part of the At-Home Learning Hub. The district also was able to distribute more than 20,000 pieces of technology to students who didn’t have access to it.

While Cavazos has been the superintendent since 2012, his ties to the Arlington ISD go back more than 20 years. He joined the district in 1999 as the associate superintendent for instruction and served as the interim deputy superintendent for seven months before being named the deputy superintendent in February of 2009. He previously served as a lecturer for the University of Texas at Arlington’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.

Cavazos is also an ex-officio member of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce Board. Cavazos is a member of the Rotary Club of Arlington, an associate member of the Greater Arlington Lions Club, a Lifetime Supporting Member of the Texas Lions Camp, a Melvin Jones Fellow with Lions Club International Foundation, a member of the Knights of Columbus and active at St. Matthew Catholic Church.

He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the University of Texas – Pan American and a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin.