Willow Glen Resident

Cover Story

Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Principal An Nguyen acknowledges he has big shoes to fill with the retirement of Carol Garcia, who reopened Canoas seven years ago. Nguyen, who was born in Vietnam, gets into character while reading to Vicki Foshay's kindergarten class.

An Now

An Nguyen replaces Canoas principal Carol Garcia

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

Canoas Elementary School's new principal, An Nguyen, is moving quickly, the heels of his shoes clicking against the sidewalk as he walks from classroom to classroom, familiarizing himself with a school his predecessor loved and shaped.

"I have big shoes to fill and high expectations coming in," says Nguyen, 39.

Carol Garcia, the former principal, retired in June after spending seven years at the school. She helped reopen it in 2000 and is credited with bringing it up to California Distinguished School status.

"Ms. Garcia was very supportive of me and worked with me during the summer," Nguyen says. "I just want to continue the success of the school."

For Nguyen, this first principalship is the culmination of his lifelong career in education.

"I can understand the fears that children have walking into a new school and starting from scratch because I can relate," Nguyen says. "I can offer hope and guidance."

Born in Vietnam, Nguyen and his parents Tru and Dau arrived in San Francisco in 1975.

His first day of school, as a first-grader, proved a culture shock.

"I started at a public school in San Francisco," he says. "I was the only student in my classroom from Vietnam. It was weird. I couldn't understand what everyone was saying because I didn't speak English. But my teacher was kind enough to allow me to absorb the language and culture. My strengths in art and math were also allowed to be developed and eventually, my language caught up."

The classroom environment and the teacher-student relationships were different from Nguyen's educational experiences in his homeland.

In Vietnam, he had attended a private French elementary school.

"There, school is very structured," he says. "The classrooms are set up with the desks lined up in rows, and we would have to remain very quiet. There was no interaction."

Nguyen recalls strict silence as he and his peers learned to write using a calligraphy pen and ink wells.

In contrast, his experience in the States led to his current educational philosophy.

"You know the saying that it's more important to show how much you care rather than how much you know?" Nguyen asks. "In high school I had a teacher that did just that. Not only was she an excellent teacher, but she also showed genuine compassion to her students."

His desire to work with children and be a positive influence in their lives grew. He went on to San Jose State University and received his degree in social sciences along with a teaching credential in 1994.

He relocated to Southern California where he taught at an elementary school for five years before enrolling at Pepperdine University and receiving his master's in education administration in 2000.

After graduation, Nguyen relocated again, this time to Thailand.

"I always wanted to go back to Asia," he says. "The timing was right, and it just happened."

He worked as an administrator in a private K-12 school until 2002.

"It was right after my master's and I wanted to gain instructional and administrative experience," Nguyen says.

He missed the Bay Area, however, and returned in 2002 to work as a project specialist for the Franklin-McKinley School District.

He made his way back into the classroom through jobs assisting principals from 2002 to 2005, and then as a district technology teacher from 2005 to 2007.

Canoas was his next step and brought him even closer to students.

"I'm lucky to be at the school where Ms. Garcia refined all the policies and procedures," he says.

Using his background in technology, Nguyen is trying to keep students in the 21st century and beyond.

"The most important thing about educational technology is to teach it as a tool and not as an end in itself," he says. "Why teach typing if they don't use it?"

For example, some of the students are putting together their projects on local missions, he says.

"They can then use the computer to put together PowerPoint presentations to go along with their projects," he says.

The changes he plans to make at the school shouldn't be drastic, he says.

"This year, I will just sit back and watch and learn," Nguyen says. "Next year, we will look for places where we can tweak to make improvements."