Administrators

Curtis Mauricio has served the students of Irving ISD since 1999. He has served in many roles, including being a teacher at Bowie Middle School, assistant principal at De Zavala Middle School,  and principal at Nimitz High School prior to becoming the principal at Austin Middle School.

Mauricio began his career in education in 1999 after completing his degree in applied technology, training and development from the University of North Texas. In 2001, he completed a master’s degree in educational administration at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Mr. Mauricio is proud to be the principal at Austin Middle School. His goal is to build and foster relationships with students, parents, staff, and the community as they play a vital role in the success of Austin’s students.

Denise Anderson has served the students of Irving ISD , since 2010. She has lead in many roles including a teacher at Bowie Middle School, dean of students and assistant principal at Lamar Middle School, principal at Travis Middle School, and now Assistant principal at Austin Middle School.

 Anderson began her career in education in 2000 after completing her degree in elementary education from Southern University at New Orleans. She began as an elementary teacher in Orleans Parish School District in New Orleans. In 2005, she relocated to Cypress Fairbanks ISD in the Houston area. While in Cypress Fairbanks ISD she completed a master’s degree in educational administration at Prairie View A&M University.

Leonardo Contreras is an Assistant Principal for Austin Middle School and serves as the sixth-grade Assistant Principal. He joins the Austin Middle School team after serving the past two years in a similar role at Sam Houston Middle School. Mr. Contreras, or Mr. C, brings a very rich and diverse background to his role. He was born and educated in Colombia. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Engineering and Computer Sciences at Francisco de Paula Santander University and worked as a newspaper production manager in his hometown of Cucuta.

After emigrating to the United States, Mr. C decided to begin his professional career in Education. In his first educational role, Mr. C helped prepare Spanish-speaking adults for the GED exam. He developed a keen interest in bilingual education and moved into roles at Ft Worth ISD teaching conversational Spanish at the elementary school level.

Mr. C joined Irving ISD in 2005 and served 17 years at MacArthur High School as an AP Spanish teacher and district curriculum developer. He also served as the Testing Coordinator for MacArthur High School. Mr. Contreras completed his Masters degree in Educational Administration at the University of North Texas, his Bilingual Education Certification at SMU, and is a graduate of the Irving ISD LEAP program. An explorer at heart, Mr. C loves to travel when he is not working.

Aja Alexander has a strong commitment to inspiring the youth and assisting students reach their full potential. As a Detroit, Michigan native, Ms. Alexander began her educational experience at Eastern Michigan University obtaining not only a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Mathematics but also a master’s degree in Urban/Diversity Education.  This master’s has served as a great guide for learning the best practices for instructing and motivating the population she has so much desired to educate.  Ms. Alexander has also obtained a Master’s in Educational Administration within her 7 years of teaching.  She has made significant contributions to the overall school culture at AMS including leading various student organizations, a participant in several school committees and assisting in numerous after-school events.  Previously, her classroom has been featured as a Verizon Innovative Learning Model Classroom, available for classroom visits from in and out-of-school educators.  Furthermore, she has been a presenter for in-district professional development and for out-of-district conferences such as the VILs Virtual Conference and VILs Cohort 5 Leader Summit.  Ms. Alexander has been told she has a natural gift of educating and leading and she is eager to continue to display this as she continues her educational journey as the Dean of Students at Austin Middle School.