When Bob Nolan decided to return to the education world, he gave
up a position that allowed him to use Bill Gates’ money to benefit
others, but he was ready to return to a setting in which he could
assist and influence students.
Morgan Hill – When Bob Nolan decided to return to the education world, he gave up a position that allowed him to use Bill Gates’ money to benefit others, but he was ready to return to a setting in which he could assist and influence students.
Nolan, 60, named the first principal of Oakwood High School this summer, has a varied background including several stints as a principal and positions as a teacher and as a non-profit foundation member. His desire was to get back in the classroom, however, and the school’s growth into its own facility seemed like the perfect opportunity.
The gleaming new building is waiting for its first class of students, arriving tomorrow. Teachers are in place, including Nolan, who will teach two history courses.
This will be the high school’s third year, though it won’t have a full four-class population until next year. Nolan was hired last year to teach and to perform some basic administrative duties, but was named principal of the high school this summer.
Small classes are one of the features of the school, with ranges from five students in a class up to 22 students, with the average being 12, he said.
The school is fully-accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which means an Oakwood High diploma is accepted by colleges and universities.
Further construction on the campus is planned for the future, including a competitive track and sports fields, tennis courts and a performing arts center.
Although Nolan is quick to point out that “teachers make the school,” he said the new building is “as close to perfection as possible.”
The building, which cost approximately $5 million, will eventually be used by 200 students, though this year there are approximately 50 enrolled.
The school, which grew out of Oakwood School, a pre-k through eighth grade private school, opened in three portables on the Oakwood campus with ninth grade students only, many of them students who had gone through Oakwood’s elementary and middle school program.
“For many years, Oakwood families have asked about continuing the unique experience Oakwood offers to its students, wanting that to extend first beyond the elementary years, then into high school,” Nolan said. “Now, their hopes and the dreams of the school’s directors have come together.”
Ushering the school in its new facility is something of a dream for Nolan, as well, although he has had no lack of new experiences in his career, which began on the East Coast. He attended a private high school in Marilyn, then moved on to Oberlin College in Ohio, where he earned an undergraduate degree in government and a master’s degree in social science.
After staying on in Ohio as a teacher for a year, Nolan then moved to New York and taught for five years. Along the way, he filled his life with other experiences, including serving as a wilderness survival instructor and an electrician. Travel was always a big part of his life, outside the U.S. and across the nation. Eventually, he ended up in California, studying at Stanford and later teaching there.
In the 1990s, he started up, with a group of entrepreneurs, a technology based high school in Napa, the first of its kind, prompting a visit from Tipper Gore. The New Tech High School was so innovative it became the model for similar schools around the country.
Later, the urge to return to the classroom became stronger, and the opportunity at Oakwood seemed to be the perfect fit. After he was hired as a lead teacher with some administrative duties, he was named principal this summer as the school expanded. The best part is, he said, he can still indulge his passion for teaching.
For more information about the high school program or the elementary and middle school programs, contact Oakwood at 782-7177.
