About me
Derrick Lawson is currently serving in his 9th year as Principal of his Alma Mater – Indio High School in Desert Sands USD and 31st year as a K -12 principal at all three levels. Aside from being a K-12 student in the district, he returned his third year of teaching to the district and after teaching, served as a principal at all 3 levels and opened 2 new campuses. He has spent the majority of his career working in high poverty schools as well as with large populations of long term English Learners and special needs students. During his 9 years in the classroom, he taught all levels K-12 as well as in the University credentialing program as an adjunct professor. He was selected as ACSA Region XIX's Principal of the Year in 2010 and then selected as the ACSA State Middle Grades Principal of the Year and NASSP 2012 Principal of the Year for California. He has served in several leadership roles for ACSA over the years. In addition to serving his Charter, he was the Region President and Treasurer as well as the NASSP State Coordinator for California and has been involved in State and National lobbying efforts for education from 2012 to the present. He served as the NASSP Region 7 Coordinator, leading the 9 western states and facilitating their advocacy and professional development efforts and now serves on the Board of the National Association of Secondary School Principals..He has been directing one of the ACSA Principals Academies for the past 9 years. He lives in Bermuda Dunes and loves both to travel and all things Disney. He is married with two adult children and an unexpected 5 (as his wife says) grand-dogs.