Paula Cornia replaces former elementary principal Mike
Nebesnick
Gilroy – Paula Cornia may have first-day jitters when she begins her new job in August, but one thing’s for sure: the surroundings will be familiar.
“I was at El Roble for eight years so it’s like coming home – full circle,” she said.
After earning a master’s in leadership, the former teacher, decided to trade in her district job – Gilroy Unified School District English language development and literacy facilitator – for an administrative position.
“I just thought that it looked like the perfect next step,” said Cornia, who speaks fluent Spanish.
Since no vacancies existed last year, she applied for the summer school principal position and gained some experience in the field. When she found out that El Roble Principal Mike Nebesnick was resigning she jumped on the chance.
Although, the El Roble job will be Cornia’s first full-fledged principalship, she does have some background in the area. Besides her summer school experience – she’s once again spending her summer break as elementary school principal – she spent hours working with teachers since her district job included staff development.
As principal of El Roble, Cornia said she plans to continually work to ensure that her students receive all the blocks necessary to build a stellar education.
“What I’m looking forward to is meeting the needs of the students,” she said. “So it just kind of evolved.”
And as the El Roble boss, Cornia wants to make sure the lines of communication between she and teachers remain open.
“The relationship piece is really important,” she said. “I really do communicate and build those relationships and that’s what really helps in the overall learning environment.”
Cornia began her education career 22 years ago. Due to the passage of Proposition 13 – which curtailed property taxes and consequently limited school funding – teaching jobs were few when the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo graduate, finished school.
Cornia headed to a tiny, rural school district in King City called Bitterwater-Tully. The years she spent in King City were beneficial. Cornia said she had few materials because of the cuts imposed by Proposition 13, forced her to be creative.
