Turning Around a Hurting School | Transformational Educators Ep. 4

What does it take to transform a school where hope feels lost?

In this episode of Transformational Educators, host Matthew Flippen sits down with Dr. Darryl Henson, Superintendent of Hitchcock ISD, to unpack the real story of how he led a dramatic turnaround at Parkland High School in El Paso. When Dr. Henson arrived, the culture was apathetic and fractured. Within one year, the school achieved every academic distinction in Texas, one of only 1.8% to do so.

Through stories marked by courage, conviction, and contagious confidence, Dr. Henson reveals how he rebuilt pride, shifted expectations, and led a hurting campus to become a source of community inspiration. Whether you’re a current leader or aspiring to be one, this episode offers tangible insight into what transformation really looks like.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Parkland’s culture was marked by apathy, low expectations, and a stepchild mindset
• Northeast El Paso carried a stigma that shaped staff and student identity
• Dr. Henson used confidence and bold presence to shift perception and mindset
• Rebranding the school’s colors and logo helped redefine its identity
• “Make kids better” became the unifying slogan for change
• Clear expectations were established: instruction, achievement, pride, clarity, and rejecting mediocrity
• Resistance came, but consistent vision and love overcame it
• Athletics and academics were aligned to foster pride and visibility
• Servant leadership guided every decision, rooted in empathy and accountability
• The campus achieved all seven academic distinctions within one year

BEST MOMENTS

00:01:53. “It was my job as a principal and as a leader to ignite what was inside of them.”
00:02:55. “We had to make sure that we were shifting the mindset of just going through the motions of school.”
00:03:34. “They adopted the internal feeling of, we are the stepchild.”
00:05:28. “Here I was, a 31-year-old high school principal, full of energy, full of hype.”
00:05:49. “We have to automatically become allergic to average.”
00:06:51. “So I have been commanded to be courageous, knowing that God is with me on the journey.”
00:08:52. “Despite the resistance, which was there, I was very consistent in my message.”
00:11:09. “We had to know who we were. Who are we?”
00:13:14. “At the end of the two years, what did the culture feel like then?”
00:14:48. “That belief from Mr. O’Neill was passed down to me and it passed down to our children.”

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Transcript

0:00

Today on the show. Doctor Darryl Hinson. Doctor Hinson is the superintendent of Hitchcock ISD. He's known for stepping into some of the toughest educational assignments and transforming them into thriving schools. Before Hitchcock, he served as Superintendent Emmaline and previously as principal at Parkland High School in El Paso's Ysleta ISD, where he led a dramatic turnaround in culture, academics, and community pride. His leadership has been widely recognized for bold vision, contagious confidence, and the ability to rally teams around high expectations with love and accountability. Today, we'll explore how he ignited pride at Parkland high School, what it takes to shift a culture from apathy to excellence, and why confidence and accountability must work hand in hand in school leadership. By the end of this episode, you'll walk away with practical insights on leading with courage, building trust, and creating a culture where kids and educators thrive. Let's get into the conversation. Today, we're going to talk a little bit about, your experience in parkland, city and I mean, in parkland High School in this letter, ISD and and some of the things that you did, to bring about transformation at that campus. But before we get into that set, the stage for us, take us back to what was parkland like when you arrived? Yes. So Ysleta ISD in El Paso, Texas, I would just say the community, the district, the leadership under Doctor Xavier dilatory phenomenal in first class. Okay. So I will always attribute a lot of my success to my time at Parkland High School. And of course, he is working with doctor de la Tori and the entire leadership team. So Parkland High School, it is in northeast El Paso. In northeast El Paso is the section of the city that didn't have the best reputation. Whether it was gangs, low income, I guess an overall negative mindset. But I knew where Parkland High School, where there were children and staff who embraced education and wanted to learn. But it was my job as a principal and as a leader to ignite what was inside of them, go from where the culture was to where the academics were, to where I knew we could be and we had to achieve it. Okay. All right. So when you arrived to walk us through, what was the culture like? How were you received by the staff? Yes, that first couple of days. So if we go the overall culture, prior to my coming into the campus, it really wasn't the best. Okay. We're talking about the focus of education and all learning. We had to make sure that we were shifting the mindset of just going through the motions of school. Staff was just going through the motions of some some of them I don't know why I'm at this campus or I've been placed here to truly embracing and being in Northeast El Paso on the campus of Parkland High School. Okay, so it was a culture of we're just here to be here. And it was not yet the culture of excellence. So ability to be empathetic in a way. Yeah. So, you know, sometimes places that have been hurting for a while. Yeah. Struggling. Right. They start to adopt this identity that this is just who who we are. This is just as good as it can be. And that's what they adopted. They adopted kind of the internal feeling of we are the stepchild because we were the furthest campus away from the rest in the district. Okay. And so it was that overall mindset of we are an afterthought, but I can tell you right now that it's that a i-s-d did not view parkland as an after that, they viewed parkland as one of the seven great high schools in that district. But I think still, even though the support from the district was there, the community at the time, the staff at the time, the students at the time still believe that they were an afterthought or stepchild of the district. So the district hires Daryl Hansen. At that point, you don't think you were a doctor yet, and I was not aware that you were there. Okay. That there is. And they said, look, we're going to show them how special they are. Yes, we're going to send they're all in there. And that's exactly what it was. Whenever speaking with a doctor, they literally the leadership team in parkland and a great school board member and saying, Haggerty, you're exactly right, Doctor Flippen. They wanted me to help show them that they are special, that they are cared for, and that they are loved despite sometimes what they feel. It was my job to bring the reality to them of yes, we can and yes we will because not only do our children deserve better as staff members and as a community, you deserve to feel a certain way. I want for a school, an education, to be a truly a place of hope and a place of inspiration. And so how can we or I? The initial mindset was, well, what are we going to have to do to shift that mindset to where they feel second class and truly bring them up to the first class community that they are? Yes. Yeah, absolutely. So, so walk us through those first couple months. What did you do to start to shift that? My mind the first couple months when I, when I met with the staff and the reception was very well here I was, okay. A 31 year old high school principal, full of energy, full of hype. I will say this I matched the vibe of Parkland High School to the fullest. Like like they were the hip hop community. Okay, of El Paso. Okay. And so going in, I wanted to make sure that we took that culture and pride of who we knew we were, but now attach it to the quality of instruction. And the first few months I test everyone. We have to do five things and do them well. We have to reframe our mindset as it relates to the quality of instruction. We have to ensure that there are student achievement across the board academics, athletics, fan art. We have to once again tap in to the culture and pride of who we are and with this, I'll pass. Okay, we have to have extreme clarity in support of expectations. And the last one we have to automatically become allergic to average. If it was mediocre, we could no longer do it. And so I want it for every child in the community. And that black and gold to say average is not good enough. Okay, fantastic. You know the drill. Every time I'm with you, you know, I feel your confidence, right? And I and I love that. And I don't know if you've seen recently, there's some research, some neuroscience. It's come out about the neuroscience of confidence, okay. That it is contagious, that if you as a leader have confidence your team around you will start to have confidence as well. Growing up in the church, my mother and my father, my grandmothers, they spoke over me, Joshua one night. So I have been commanded to be courageous, knowing that God is with me on the journey. So a lot of my confidence. It definitely comes from the Lord. And that's how I lead my campuses and my district. That's right. With a spirit of confidence and courageous, just knowing that God is with me for every step of the way. Yes, absolutely. Thank you for saying that. Thank you for sharing that. Hey educators, I hope you're enjoying this conversation at Graceland University. We believe real change in education starts with compassionate leadership and practical support. That's why we share stories like this. If something in today's episode spoke to you maybe about your purpose, your next step, or how you can make a bigger impact, I invite you to explore how Gracelyn walks alongside educators through degree programs and strategic partnerships. Scan the QR code on screen or follow the link in the show notes to learn more. Now let's get back to the episode. We are, proposing to a servant leader trust based model for campus transformation, and for us for that servant leader is one thinking about others. First you have to, but with confidence, with confidence, with courage, with empathy, and with accountability. Right? Because if you don't have accountability and high expectations. Correct. So tell me, tell me about did you face any resistance to what you were trying to implement? Because that sounds like a lot of change to me. I certainly face resistance. Think about it. I am a younger administrator. I'm not from the city of El Paso, even though El Paso is my second home. Okay. And so naturally, he's like, who was this guy coming in here making this change, speaking life into was building hope. It is. Sometimes I feel like too much change. But despite the resistance which was there, I was very consistent in my message and our vision and our model for that year was make kids better. I didn't want to have this long, drawn out statement about 20 about 21st century learning. We have to just make our children better. And so the slogan of make kids better, everyone began to embrace it. You might push back, you might resist. But ultimately, I know you want to make children better so it's easier to get on board. And there was there was some turn out for me. And tell me about who was resistant that you won over. So was there some was there somebody that stands out? There were a few people who stand out and let me tell you what, they were used to doing things their way on the campus for such a long time. Yeah. And I believe in I've learned over the years that there is the way versus a way. There's very rarely one way of doing something. If I said right now, doctor flipping, let's all add to get to the number of ten, you might say six plus four. I might say seven plus three. And we're both correct. So I had to get everyone to understand that there are multiple ways of doing things. And when I was consistent and of course, we talked earlier about accountability, I'll tell you a few times, but I will get to typing in and document you if I have to. But we were going somewhere together as a campus through this service. You mentioned it through serving others and through serving others. I had to make sure that everyone knew that we were on a journey together, and those who push back, you either going to hop on board. But this train was moving down the tracks in the northeast, the north side, and if you weren't on board, we were going to leave you at station. That's great. That's great. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. So walk us through a little bit about what changed. What did you see transform over the period? The first thing we touched was branding. We had to identify. So our colors were black and gold. The black is the easy color. But the gold. Do we have a yellow gold? Do we have a rust gold? Do we have a gold go. So I saw so many different logos, so many different shades of yellow to go. So then we paint that. Now why start there? Why was that important? Us. Our identity. Yeah. We had to know who we were. Who are we? And I want it because parking is a very powerful community and I want it for parents, alumni, children, our elementary and middle school seniors as well, to understand that we're all raising to be in their black and gold. And so once we identified our colors, I changed the logo as well. And of course, I work with the school district on that and that logo. So we were the Parkland Matadors and it was all about catching the ball. And so we changed our logo to have to have these horns. And it was a very simple insignia that whenever you saw that it represented Parkland High School and something to be proud of. Yes, sir. It means strength and academic success because again, you mentioned early there's Swat. There wasn't a lot of pride. Correct? Right. It was more viewed themselves as the as less than. That is correct. And so now you've rebranded it and said, okay, now this is who we are, this is going to be exactly who we are. And now live up to it. Correct. So what was step two? What did you do next? So after that, then we had to make sure that we all understood what was the vision, what was going to be basically our rallying cry and live by it. So I told you it was make kids better. I didn't want to use the word students or children. Was my kids better? And then as I spoke, naturally, everyone's talking about the park. And so everything was hashtag the park. And that kind of came on accident because our kids call it in parkland, the park because it was sort like, what are you going to do, man? I'm over right now at the park. Like that's not. No. Well, parkland. And then that was like the park, the park. And so we caught on and it became very cool. And so it felt cool to be at the park. But then I told everyone this to represent the park, to be at the park, to wear the park's colors. It's now a certain standard. And as we outline it, we identified once again the five pillars quality of instruction for children as a learner for students, I'm assuming before our staff as teachers achievement for children, you have to achieve our staff. You have to coach better. You have to be a better sponsor. And we found ways to attach outcomes and expectations to our brand, to our dignity and to our models and slogans. Yeah, absolutely. Park el Park at. That's great. That's great. So you were there how many years? I was there for two years. Two years. Okay. At the end of the two years, what did the culture feel like then? The culture was a complete turnaround. I see you after year one. So when Texas high schools can earn seven academic distinctions, normally schools would get four three to first year. We got all seven, one of 1.8% of schools in the state to get all seven distinctions. Unbelievable. Wow. That's a testament to our children and to our staff. We're making an immediate impact, an immediate shift in our culture after that first year. And we saw that academic success. The kids held their heads high and rightfully so. You couldn't tell them one bad thing about them. They knew that they were great. They knew that they were special. Our athletic teams, Dave Campbell's put out like ten, like a team of the 2010 decades, or that 2015 or 2025 of most was of Parkland High School was on that list. I want to say we lost maybe 1 to 2 games at five, six years. Wow, wow. Big shout out to Josh Kirkland and coach Eric France. They did a phenomenal job. Wow wow. You know and it is interesting to think about how back to identity you know how winning can you win in a lot of areas. And you can celebrate all those. But athletics can be one that you can rally around. Definitely. That's that's our scene. And even more importantly, I want to tell you the support and the vision was shared from the top doctor de la Tory was a champion, one of my mentors, and I will probably say my favorite person in the world is Pat O'Neill. Everyone knows how much I love Pat O'Neill and his wife Becky O'Neill. They were supporters of the parkland community and what Mr. O'Neill and miss O'Neill meant to me and much of that community. It was special because they believed in this and the belief from Mr. O'Neill was passed down to me and it passed down to our children. So the amount of love that I have for Mr. O'Neill, miss O'Neill. And what I got emotional. Yes. Talking about parkland, I'm telling you that belief, that hope and inspiration. I can't thank them enough for that. I tell you, your passion, your hard, you know, when you like, when you lead with your heart like this, sometimes, you know, they get, you know, you gets hurt. Yes. But when the people come around and rally behind and support you through those hard times. Amen. That is that's when you know you've got good friends. Yes, sir. Yes. That is fantastic. Fantastic day. I thank you for sharing that with us. Yeah. I mean, there's so many great lessons, today. And so I just really am honored that you took some time out to get with us and share some of your, some of your journey. So thank you for that. But yeah, I wish you the best in, in Hitchcock. I can't wait to see. I can't wait to see how this passion, this confidence transforms Hitchcock into everything that it can become. I really appreciate it. Yeah. Thanks again. No. Thank you. If today's conversation gave you fresh insight or inspired you to lead with purpose, please follow the show and tell a friend. It helps us reach more educators who want to make a difference. For more stories, resources, and tools to support your leadership journey, visit gracelyn. Dot Edu. Until next time, keep leading with courage and care. If you want to keep learning about transformational strategies and education, click the next video.