Communications Department Directory

Rebecca M. Villarreal, APR, became the Executive Director of Communications in July 2013. In this role, she serves as the District spokesperson, coordinates media coverage and serves as the information liaison between the school system and the community. She also oversees the marketing and branding of the District's mascots and logos.

Villarreal has been a public relations professional since 2000 with a majority of those years in education. She has been a PR professional for organizations such as Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, Time Warner Cable, North East ISD, St. Philip’s College, and the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW).

She is an active member of the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) and is currently serving as the 2023-2024 Immediate Past President. She is also a member of the San Antonio Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and was the chapter president in 2011.

Villarreal is a graduate of The University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas, where she received a Bachelor or Arts degree in Mass and Speech Communication. She earned her master’s degree in Communication Arts from UIW. She received her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 2017 and was inducted into the PRSA College of Fellows in 2022.

She and her husband, Dr. Albert Villarreal (NBHS ’93), reside in New Braunfels with their three young children. 

Melanie Caballero became Executive Assistant for Communications in November 2022.  Caballero is a New Braunfels native, graduating from New Braunfels High School in 2005.  She has been an employee of New Braunfels ISD since 2017, and is currently attending Texas State University, majoring in Business Administration.

Caballero resides in New Braunfels with her husband and 2 young children.

Zach Perkins became the multimedia specialist in the NBISD Communications Department in November 2020. He came to NBISD after working as a reporter and photojournalist for the Port Aransas South Jetty and Rockport Pilot newspapers. Perkins has won several national and regional photography awards, including First Place News Photo from the National Newspaper Association as well as being named the South Texas Press Association's Photojournalist of the Year for 2019. Perkins is a graduate of the University of the Incarnate Word, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a concentration in Journalism. 

Samantha Bower joined the NBISD Communications Department in November 2022. Bower has worked in Communications for four years, including marketing for an engineering firm in San Antonio and public relations for a rural healthcare system in Arkansas during the height of the pandemic. She has been recognized for multiple writing awards, including Reporter of the Year from the Arkansas College Media Association as well as Digital Journalist of the Year from John Brown University in Arkansas, which she graduated from in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations.

Bower resides in New Braunfels with her husband, two dogs, and growing family.

Ralph Bissey joined the NBISD Communications Department in September 2018. He held the position of Multimedia Specialist for two years before transitioning into the role of Webmaster.

Bissey has worked in video and multimedia production for over 30 years, including at KENS-TV and KABB-TV in San Antonio, The Edit House in Fort Worth, Tarrant County College and with his own video/multimedia business. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Radio/TV/Film. He and his wife Patty have 3 grown daughters.