By Satina Tolman
For The New Era
With a background that spans continents and classrooms, Shelley Nurre (pronounced “nur-ee”) is bringing a global perspective, deep compassion and a collaborative approach to her new role as principal of Foster Elementary School.
Her office, neatly organized and filled with Disney keepsakes and motivational quotes, reflects her warm, student-centered leadership style.
Born and raised in Oregon, Nurre holds master’s degrees in both political science and American studies from the University of Oregon. Her journey into education began in Japan, where she taught English and, within a year, was promoted to oversee elementary programming and curriculum development.
She also taught at a yochien, a Japanese preschool/kindergarten covering ages 3 through 5, where she was the sole teacher for a class of 30 3-year-olds.
“I taught entirely in Japanese, and although I was very fluent at the time, that was more than 20 years ago,” she said.
Nurre and her husband lived in Japan for three years and returned for a cultural exchange visit with their son when he was in fifth grade.
“We still have a lot of friends there and enjoy traveling there,” she said.
After returning to the U.S., Nurre ran a childcare center serving children ages 6 weeks to 12 years.
“That time taught me so much about early development and partnering with families,” she said.
Later, she earned a master’s degree in teaching and entered public education. While she never intended to become a school leader, her former principal, Jim Keegan, recognized her potential and encouraged her to pursue administration.
“I never thought I’d be a principal when I was teaching; it was never even on my radar,” she said. But she found a passion for working with students who struggle and helping them thrive. “I understand and I listen to them and I help them overcome barriers they have in place.”
That desire to make a difference drew her to Sweet Home. “I was looking for a smaller, tighter community experience,” she said.
When she saw the Foster principal job posting, she reached out to former principal Lisa Letham, who encouraged her to apply. Since arriving, she said she’s felt right at home.
“Everyone here is so welcoming and helpful. Everybody here knows everybody, and I have received a lot of offers for help,” Nurre said.
This year, her top priority is building relationships with staff, students and families.
“I don’t want to change stuff that’s working. I will do a needs assessment and determine where our strengths are and how we can build on those and make improvements wherever we need to,” she said. “Start slow to go far.”
Nurre describes her leadership style as collaborative. “I really value input from the people I work with,” she said. “Input comes from perspectives that might be the same, but they might be in conflict with each other. As the principal, I have to look at the big picture and determine what will work. I really want a shared vision in this building. ‘Team’ is the big word.”
Several staff members have already told her, “We are family,” which, she said, is exactly what she was looking for in a school community.
Beyond academics and leadership, one of Nurre’s top priorities is school climate, including a proactive and restorative approach to behavior and bullying.
“One of the strengths that I bring to this school is knowing strategies that help students who are both the recipients of bullying or meanness and those students who are doing the acts and having a restorative piece in the response to that,” she said.
Her approach centers on three steps: reflection, instruction and restoration.
“Any time a student has behaved in a way that has hurt or harmed another in any way (physical, emotional, etc.) or harmed the environment, there are three things that I like to make sure happen,” she said. “One is that they have time to reflect on what happened; who did they harm, what were they thinking and feeling when it happened? Understanding that everybody makes mistakes, and we need to give grace while they learn from that mistake, and help them through that.
“The second is instruction time, so that they are being retaught what should have happened and given ways to respond differently next time. And third is restorative time, where we pose the question: What needs to happen now to the people who were harmed to restore that relationship?”
She said that might mean a conversation in her office, a letter or a kind gesture, whatever it takes to rebuild trust.
“If we can end up making a community where everybody cares about each other, it is hard to be mean to people you care about,” she said. “It is not to say that there isn’t a place for disciplinary action and consequences, but if we just do that, it won’t change the behavior. If the goal is behavior change, we need to give them the reason why.”
Nurre is also launching a parent advisory group to open lines of communication and feedback between home and school. She plans to stay in touch with families through a monthly newsletter, social media updates and family events designed to strengthen the school community.
When she does find spare time, she enjoys gardening, running and spending time with her family: her husband, who is a residential builder; their two adult children; a granddaughter; and a second grandchild on the way.
Reflecting on her new role, Nurre said, “I am thankful! I have gratitude for this position that opened up for me at a time when I was really wanting this. I am super excited about this school year.”
Lisa Martin, who spent three decades working at Foster and now works at the district office, had high praise for the new principal.
“I think Sweet Home hit the jackpot when they hired her as the new principal,” Martin said.