New Maggie Cordova principal, assistant to lean on each other during school year

RIO RANCHO — When it comes to leadership at Maggie Cordova Elementary School, Maggie the Dragon, the school’s mascot, may be an indication as to how the new principal and assistant principal will work together during the 2025-26 school year.

The mascot for the central Rio Rancho school recently received a makeover from a “fierce” dragon to a baby, Assistant Principal Nicelle Spears said in an interview. That lighter persona is more reflective of an elementary school, Spears said, invoking a laugh from her superior, Principal Rachel Aaker, during the conversation with the Observer.

Along those light-hearted lines, Aaker and Spears pledged to work together as the new principal and assistant principal, respectively, of Maggie Cordova during the 2025-26 school year, set to begin for all students Aug. 7. The two women, who have 40 years of professional educational experience combined, are among the almost half a dozen new top administrators who will lead Rio Rancho Public Schools this coming school year, according to RRPS spokesperson Wyndham Kemsley.

Aaker, previously the student services director for all the district’s elementary schools, is mindful of Spears’ experience at Maggie Cordova, where she served as a teacher since 2006 and an instructional coach since 2021.

“I will lean on her a lot to be able to tell me how things were done before and what the culture is like for our Maggie Cordova community,” Aaker said of Spears, who was selected as assistant principal before Aaker was named to the school’s top role.

Spears said she is excited to work with Aaker, who was once a principal at SpaRRk Academy.

“She has such a great amount of knowledge, being a principal previously,” Spears said of Aaker. “I’m really happy she had that experience coming into this new role.”

The two leaders touched on their administrative partnership, with Aaker noting that she and Spears have been working together for several weeks to “get into a good groove” to support their school’s community.

“It is an interesting question” on whether a principal and an assistant principal can work together, Aaker said.

The two administrators agree on numerous priorities, including making sure students love coming to school, just like teachers.

“When you have that shared vision, that alleviates any kind of conflict because you have shared goals,” Spears said.

Invoking shared goals “makes it easy to have difficult conversations,” Aaker said.

The elementary school — named after Cordova, a former RRPS employee dating back to the school district’s founding in 1994 — had just over 600 students enrolled last school year. So far, the school has just over 550 students enrolled, but not all families have finished registering their children, Aaker said. Meanwhile, the number of school staff members has dipped slightly this year, from 103 to 101.

Aaker said Cordova’s vision of inclusiveness and a belief in students “still resonates” with the school and its community.

“I’m really excited to just be with the students every day and become a partner with the families,” Aaker said.

Aaker hopes to get to know students, staff, and parents; focus on continuing a positive school culture; improve student attendance; and build on student classroom engagement and high academic expectations.

But there are still things for school administrators like her to do before the start of school, not only finalizing registration but updating facility systems. The elementary school also needs one more teacher — an issue also experienced by the soon-to-be RioTECH, which is looking for a science instructor.

The other new school leaders announced for the 2025-26 school year are:

• Carissa Daugherty: Assistant principal at Colinas Del Norte Elementary

• Paul Lockhart: Assistant principal at Rio Rancho High School

• Laura Fox: Assistant principal at Lincoln Middle School

• Danielle Thomson Sena: Principal at Rio Rancho Elementary (as of spring 2025)

• Emily Key: Principal at Colinas Del Norte Elementary (as of spring 2025)