Bill Schildbach will be the next superintendent of Nome Public Schools (NPS). The NPS Board of Education made the announcement Friday morning.

According to a press release, Schildbach was the unanimous pick of the Board. He’ll come to Nome from Mt. Spur Elementary School in Anchorage, where he currently serves as principal.

But he has experience in Western Alaska: Shildbach worked previously as the Director of Assessment for the Northwest Arctic Borough School District in Kotzebue, and he was the principal of the Emmonak School for four years.

At a public candidate forum on Wednesday night, Schildbach told the Board he sees student success starting with Inupiaq values:

“That provides students a real good baseline of who they are, and what they know, and where they come from. And I think having that sense of balance, I think it really helps with your testing. I think that also allows kids to go, ‘Okay, I can value myself, I know what’s going on here, and I can do things.’”

Schildbach says he’s excited to take the reins.

“Throughout the interview process it was evident that the community of Nome is united in their desire for positive educational outcomes for all of their students.”

Shildbach will sign a 2-year contract with NPS, with a starting salary of $120,000 per year. His first day on the job will be July 1, 2018.

Gabe Colombo contributed reporting to this story.

Image at top: Bill Schildbach will take over as NPS Superintendent on July 1, 2018 (Photo: Gabe Colombo, KNOM).