The Goodwill Excel Center

Community Schools, The Exploration Center, and Central Office will remain closed tomorrow January 27, 2026.

Due to anticipated extreme temperatures and unsafe road conditions, Excel Community School campuses, The Exploration Center, and Central Office will be closed tomorrow, January 26th. We will continue to monitor weather conditions and provide updates. Please take care and take necessary precautions to stay warm.

🎓 It’s never too late to learn!

Whether you’re finishing what you started or starting fresh, we’re here to help you reach your goals.

Enroll today and take the next step toward your future!

https://excelcenterhighschool.org/enroll-now/interest-form/

For Miguel Garza, the path to education wasn’t a straight line, it was a journey of rediscovery. He began as a Computer Science major, but partway through college, he found himself wondering whether that was truly where he belonged. A conversation with a close friend reminded him of something important: he’d always envisioned himself as a coach. That insight changed everything. He switched his major and never looked back, a decision he now calls one of the best he’s ever made.

Since then, Miguel has built a diverse and impactful career across Texas schools. He’s served as a Head Junior High Coach and PE teacher at Diboll ISD, a Varsity Offensive Coordinator in three different districts, and has taught an impressive range of subjects including Computer Literacy, ESL, Social Studies, History, Reading (6th–8th grade), and Cognitive Intervention. His passion for helping students grow eventually led him into school leadership, where he has served as Assistant Principal and Principal in four different districts before finding his home at Goodwill Excel Center. Now in his second year with the organization, he continues to lead with energy, empathy, and purpose.

What drives him most is seeing transformation firsthand. “I truly enjoy watching our students rediscover their confidence,” he shares. “Seeing them take pride in their accomplishments and realize it’s never too late to achieve their goals is what makes this work so rewarding.”

A lifelong sports enthusiast, Miguel has a creative side that often surprises people. “Even though I’ve always loved playing sports,” he laughs, “I was also the guy in the locker room playing guitar and sketching cartoon stories about my teammates.” Those sketches eventually turned into mini “books” that circulated among the team, essentially a locker-room comic series before they ever thought about publishing rights.

Through his leadership, empathy, and belief in the potential of others, Miguel exemplifies what it means to lead with both heart and vision, creating a campus where learning, connection, and transformation thrive side by side.