Royal ISD will welcome three new leaders to the RISD leadership team for the upcoming school year – all experienced public educators and leaders in their fields of advanced academics, counseling, and communications.

The district announced on its Facebook page on June 23 that Denise Ward would be its new director of advanced academics and counseling. Ward joins Royal ISD with more than 20 years of experience in public education, most recently serving as a high school lead counselor in Katy ISD. Her experience includes roles as a teacher, campus testing coordinator and counselor. Ward also brings strong knowledge of advanced academics, including supporting students and families through course selection, dual credit opportunities, advanced placement pathways, graduation endorsements, CCMR readiness and equitable access to rigorous academic programming. Ward has presented at the National Safe Schools Conference on crisis response initiatives and collaborative practices that strengthen campus safety and student support systems.

Also announced in the June 23 Facebook post, Norma Martinez has become the new director of marketing and communications for Royal. Martinez brings extensive district leadership experience from Goose Creek CISD, where she served in both communications and curriculum leadership roles. As director of communications, she led districtwide efforts to strengthen internal and external communication, engage stakeholders, and promote transparency across the organization. She later served as director of secondary curriculum and instruction, providing leadership for teaching and learning initiatives, curriculum implementation, advanced academics, college and career readiness programs, and student achievement efforts across secondary campuses. Before serving at the district level, Martinez was principal of Memorial Parkway Elementary in Katy ISD. Her experience also includes service as an elementary and junior high assistant principal, academic support teacher, special education teacher, and bilingual educator. Martinez earned a bachelor of arts in psychology from Texas A&M University, a master of education in educational management with instructional technology and principal certification, and a doctor of education in educational leadership.

In a July 2 post on Facebook the district announced that Christopher Oldham will join the administration as an executive director of support programs and secondary education. Before entering public education, Oldham served as a combat medic in the United States Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his 17 years in education, Oldham has served as a classroom teacher, higher education adjunct professor at Lone Star College, high school assistant principal in Conroe ISD, junior high principal in Coldspring-Oakhurst ISD, CTE instructional specialist in Cy-Fair ISD, and most recently has served as the principal of Waller High School for the past five years. There he led a comprehensive 6A Title I campus of more than 3,200 students and 335 faculty and staff, overseeing an $18 million campus budget. He was named Region 4 District Secondary Principal of the Year in 2024-2025. Oldham holds a bachelor's degree

from Sam Houston State University, a master's degree from Lamar University, and is completing his doctor of education in educational leadership at Liberty University.