Arvizo San Luis High’s principal
SAN LUIS, Ariz. — Lucky Arvizo has spent nearly three decades helping young people thrive both in the classroom and on the playing field as both a coach and a teacher. Now, he’s helping them as head of a school.
Arvizo, well-known in Yuma among longtime followers of prep sports, became principal at San Luis High School last month, succeeding Tamara Ray. He previously served as assistant principal of the school.
“It’s an honor to be here,” Arvizo said. “I’ve always known San Luis is a great community. I was very excited to come and then I got to know what great students and staff the school has.”
While having spent most of his career at Cibola High School, Arvizo has ties to south Yuma County. His father is from Somerton and his mother from Luis B. Sanchez, a community on outskirts of San Luis Rio Colorado. And Arvizo believes his dual language skills will help him in his new position.
“Although there have been very good principals (at San Luis) in the past, and I hope to be able to continue that, I believe that being bilingual, from the area and knowing the local culture will help me.”
A Yuma High graduate, Arvizo attended Arizona Western College on a football and baseball scholarship, later transferring to Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., to study economics and business.
He worked in the private sector for a year and then got his first exposure in 1990 when he joined the Cibola High School football program as assistant coach of the varsity team. He held that post for two years, then returned to the program in 1998 when he was also a classroom teacher.
He went on to serve as head coach of the Cibola football team for six years, and in 2007 he became assistant principal at Cibola High School. He joined San Luis High School as assistant principal at the start of the 2018-19 school year.
Yuma Union High School District officials said Ray has been reassigned to a project outside San Luis High School.
Arvizo, who holds a master’s degree in education from Northern Arizona University, now heads up a campus of about 2,880 students, 118 teachers and 195 other employees.
Arvizo said education at the San Luis school is on par with that of all the other campuses in the district.
“When I came here, I found myself basically working on many of the same things that are done in the other schools,” he said. “The district does a good job in that — we are all on the same page. There are weekly meetings among all the schools, and the curriculum and teaching strategies are very uniform.”
The San Luis school, he said, has the added advantage of parental and community involvement.
“Yes, we have our challenges — we have them like any other high school — but I believe (community) involvement is one of our strengths in San Luis, and that was seen in the recent PTO meeting, where it was shown that where there is a situation or a problem, (parents and residents) are there to help.”
Arvizo was referring to a meeting that brought out an estimated 700 people in response to concerns about fentanyl use among students and young adults in San Luis. Speaking to the crowd at the meeting, Arvizo said he wished all PTO meetings brought out that many people.
“The greatest strength (a school can have) is the support from the community,” he said. “That is a very important asset in this high school.”
Concerning the fentanyl cases, Arvizo said the school will offer support but let police and other specialists take the lead role in combating drug use.
“From the position of the school, we will do the best that we can to ensure the safety and well-being of the students.”