On Opening a New School – Keith Nomura, Principal, John Green Elementary School

January 31, 2011

Keith Nomura and the hard hat he wore during the construction of John Green Elementary School

Keith Nomura, Principal of John Green Elementary School, was attracted to Dublin nearly four years ago by the challenge of opening a new school. With a green hard hat in hand, Keith stepped onto the John Green Elementary School construction site with a dream of what the school could be and has since become. The process of opening John Green Elementary School inspired Keith to author a whitepaper, “To Dream, Imagine, and Believe: Experiences in Opening a New School”. His whitepaper provides a blueprint for other school administrators, and will be put to good use for the Dublin Unified School District’s next new school, Kolb Elementary (opening for the 2011-12 school year – read more).

In his whitepaper, Keith shares his dream of opening a new school: “My dream as a principal was to open a new school where I would be an active participant in building the culture of the school; a culture that would be built collectively by the staff and community. This would be an opportunity to be part of building a culture where I get to be an integral part of helping to build a legacy that would live far beyond my term. A place where the core values and beliefs that form the culture of the school would be a reflection of my leadership.”

OneDublin.org recently met with Keith to learn more about his philosophy as an educator, his experiences opening a new school and his unique role in the annual John Green Elementary School Gator Gallop.