April 27, 2015
After a four-month national search, vetting 25 candidates, the Lighthouse hiring committee (made up of representatives from the Board, faculty, and parent communities) enthusiastically recommended Paul Koh for Lighthouse’s next Head of School. The Board of Directors unanimously supported the recommendation of the hiring committee and Mr. Koh was thrilled to accept our offer.
Mr. Koh is ready to lead Lighthouse as evidenced by:
- An unwavering belief in the Lighthouse mission that 100% of our students can and will go to college
- Firm educational footing and knowledge of rigorous, project-based curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment which began in the classroom 12 years ago
- An ability to establish a strong school culture
- Ease in forming strong relationships with families and students
- His evidence of being a constant learner who is reflective, able to bring a fresh perspective and a renewed sense of joy to Lighthouse
- His management and leadership experience as a principal and vice principal for seven years during which he created a vision for his schools, led instruction, distributed leadership, established external partnerships, managed personnel on multiple levels, and managed a complex budget
- Incredibly strong recommendations from multiple sources who have known him throughout his career
Paul Koh is a first-generation Korean-American immigrant who moved to the United States when he was six years old. Growing up in Cupertino and San Jose, he was afforded the gifts of high quality public education, learned English as a Second Language, and after a short stint in the corporate world, discovered that his life’s calling was to give back to the community through education. After doing his student teaching in Fremont Unified, Mr. Koh accrued four years of high school humanities teaching experience at Oakland School for the Arts and the Envision Schools. At City Arts and Technology (CAT) High School, Paul taught using project-based pedagogy, wrote curriculum, led professional development for his peers, developed the school’s first graduation portfolio process, and piloted a new internship program. In 2008, he became Vice Principal of Student Support at CAT and has since served as Assistant Principal at SFUSD’s Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School and Principal at the International Studies Academy in Bay View Hunters Point (serving grades 6 – 12th grade) since 2011.
Mr. Koh has a B.A. in Political Science from UC Davis, a teaching credential from San Francisco State University, and an administrative credential and Masters Degree in Education from UC Berkeley’s Principal Leadership Institute. He has grown as a professional and contributed to the education profession by being a contributor to the Buck Institute for Education and serving as a Stanford Principal Fellow, deepening his practice to bring innovation in schools. Mr. Koh is married to Jessica Wang and has enjoyed living in Oakland since 2012. He enjoys backpacking, cave trekking, playing guitar and ukelele, live music, exploring Oakland, road biking, and snowboarding.
Mr. Koh will begin his new position this summer. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Lighthouse Community. Stay tuned for your chance to meet and welcome him very soon!