A new STEM lead

Longtime educator and Dallas ISD principal will now lead the district’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Department as its new executive director. Michael J. Ruiz brings years of experience as a teacher, parent and campus leader to the role in addition to his experience outside education as a marketing professional at Microsoft.

During his tenure as principal of Geneva Heights Elementary School, he successfully navigated through an unprecedented global pandemic while increasing enrollment—from 369 to 518 students—and academic achievement at the IB World School. As assistant principal at Woodrow Wilson High School, Ruiz led the school’s science and math departments to consecutive years of academic gains.

In his nine years as a dual language teacher, he worked with a diverse population of students and staff—at L.L. Hotchkiss Elementary School, he served students from 17 different countries. In 2015 he was named Dallas ISD Teacher of the Year and the following year was named the Jose Martí National Dual-Language Teacher of the Year at the National Association of Bilingual Education conference.

Ruiz has served as a member of the Hillcrest Leadership Academy, the initial cohort of the district’s Bilingual Cadre, Dallas ISD’s Academic Advisory Council and the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy in partnership with the National Science Teachers Association.