By Khalida Sarwari
There will be a new face around the Saratoga Unified School District office, but she’s no stranger to Saratoga. Twenty-six year resident Nancy Johnson will soon be taking over the district’s top job following the June departure of former superintendent Lane Weiss.
Johnson brings several years of experience in education to the position, most recently serving as the associate superintendent of human resources in the Cupertino Union School District, a position she held for nine years. She said she looks forward to bringing her energy and leadership experience to her new role and building on the traditions and opportunities already in place at SUSD.
“I feel deeply honored and blessed to be given this top leadership opportunity in a community so highly motivated to support student success,” said Johnson. “I also feel humbled given my belief that ‘to whom much is given, much will be required.’ “
What motivated her to apply for the job, said Johnson, was a desire to pay back the community for supporting her own three children while they attended elementary, middle and high school in Saratoga school districts.
“In my new role as superintendent, I desire to pay back, in small measure, the extraordinary academic, social-emotional growth, arts and athletic opportunities provided to my children by the Saratoga education community,” she said.
She also credits Saratoga elementary and middle school teachers and administrators for being the first to encourage her to enter a teacher credentialing program in the early ’90s and supporting her through the process.
She said one of her immediate goals in Saratoga is to build a strong relationship with the board of trustees, staff, students, parents and the wider community. To that end, she said she’d be carefully listening, observing, inquiring and studying input from all the stakeholders involved in the implementation of the district’s strategic plan. And that isn’t all.
“I also look forward to visiting classrooms regularly to ground my new learnings in real-time student and teacher experiences,” she said.
Johnson began her career in higher education administration at San Jose State University as a coordinator of student academic and social programs. After taking a decade off to be an at-home mom, during which she worked part time as a musician and legal writer, Johnson began a teaching career and subsequently served as a program leader in the Cupertino and the Cambrian school districts. She came on board as the assistant superintendent of human resources in 2006 and was promoted to associate superintendent in 2012.
She said she would miss working with the people in the Cupertino district.
“District staff, students and community members have enriched my personal and professional life immeasurably since 1992, when I began student teaching there,” Johnson said.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from UC-Berkeley and a master’s in education leadership from Santa Clara University.
Johnson has three adult children and three grandchildren. In her spare time, she said she enjoys playing with her grandchildren, gardening, walking in the Saratoga hills, reading and playing the piano.
Johnson succeeds Weiss, who resigned earlier this year after 12 years as a superintendent in Saratoga to serve as a superintendent of Aspire Public Schools in the Central Valley area.
Board of trustees president Arati Nagaraj said the board selected Johnson from a field of 33 applicants, most from California, but others from as far as Maryland and Massachusetts.
“The SUSD board of trustees chose Nancy Johnson because she has the experience, passion for teaching and learning and all the desired characteristics that the staff and community would like to see in our superintendent for Saratoga,” said Nagaraj. “We are excited to start a new chapter in SUSD.”
The SUSD board announced Johnson’s appointment on Sept. 16 and officially approved her contract on Sept. 22. Her first day on the new job will be Oct. 7.
