As Principal Antonio Acuña walks through the door he is greeted by students and faculty, he offers a seat and then takes a seat himself as he patiently waits to be interviewed.

Coming from Rio Bravo Middle School he is the campus’ new principal.

“I was there for four years. Del Valle has given me the impression of being a really big family, OFOD. “One family, one destiny is true,” Acuña said.

Acuña plans to improve things without changing old traditions.

“He is making good improvements to the school,” principal student advisor Andrew Aparicio said.

Such actions are already visible.

“We brought back the flags, now the plan is to have a senior trip, and we are working on that, also cleaning up the school,” Acuña said.

He expects students to respect adults, dress appropriately, wear their ID’s and overall try their best in school.

“One of the things you are going to learn when you go into real life is that you are going to have a boss and you are going to have to respect them,” Acuña said. “In any job you will have to wear an ID.”

He expects faculty to respect students in return.

“It’s a mutual respect, if you respect them, they’ll respect you,” Acuña said.

Acuña attended Socorro High School as a student.

“I was half a mile from here so I’m familiar with the area,” Acuña said.

His hobbies include playing basketball and volleyball. He plays three to four times a week and competes for both.

“You’ll find out when we have games, I’ve played basketball all my life. I still play” Acuña said.

Acuña tries to connect with students.

“He is very approachable,” senior Jennifer Martinez said.

Acuña’s motivation is students’ appreciation when he is able to help.

“Once they know I’m for reals their attitude changes towards me and that motivates me every day,” Acuña said.