As the 2023-2024 academic year commences, Selma High is being led by its newest principal, Mr. Nathan Lane.
Mr. Lane is a very familiar face to Selma, being born and raised here. He attended Jackson Elementary, Roosevelt Junior High, and Selma High. He then continued on to further education at Reedley College and Fresno State for his Bachelor’s degree.
“I knew that I [wanted] a job that would allow me to coach,” explained Mr. Lane. “I really like to improve the lives of young people and try to provide a good example and guidance for them as they grow closer to adulthood.”
Realizing his immense passion and care for educating the next generations, he attained his teaching credentials and Master’s degree at National University.
Mr. Lane’s past working experience includes coaching basketball at Abraham Lincoln Middle School, teaching block classes there, and then moving into the administrative side in Caruthers and back in Selma.
Coming into this position, Mr. Lane realized that Selma High needed stability and clarity of expectations for not only students, but also expectations for staff.
“[I want to] ensure that we provide as many different opportunities for the kids of Selma…whether that be different class offerings, or extracurricular activities,” Mr. Lane discussed.
It’s critical to him that Selma High is able to provide accessible and supportive services to its students to create that safe and engaging learning environment for all types of learners.
An initiative moving towards this goal is the new phone policy. Being only a few weeks into this new protocol, there have already been promising outlooks from this change.
“It just allows students to focus while they’re in class, even increasing their attention span,” he stated. Teachers have expressed relief that students are actually able to focus in class, as there isn’t a constant distraction. Another goal with this change is to generally increase student interaction within the classroom and around the campus.
Another goal with this change is to generally increase student interaction within the classroom and around the campus. Mr. Lane hopes to improve the student life and school spirit to make it more interactive. The goal for this year is to increase the number of rallies, dances, and have food trucks. “Students become connected with one another, and more connected with the school,” he explained.
Being connected with students and families around campus is one of Mr. Lane’s biggest priorities. He constantly puts efforts into building a better rapport amongst himself, staff, and especially parents, knowing that they trust the schools with their students everyday.
“I am at a lot of events [at school], like Back to School Night and sporting events,” he said.
Simply being present allows him to be seen as an actively participating principal, building upon that connection he wants to create between himself and the school.
“Your high school years can be some of your best years in your life…growing into adulthood. The advice is really [to] enjoy your journey, get involved in things. It’s okay to get involved, really concentrate on doing the best that you can,” Mr. Lane advised. “Don’t fall into the trap of wanting to get out already. Rather do the best that you can.”
Lastly, he reiterated, “I care greatly about the school, it means a lot to me.”
Mr. Lane looks forward to an era of joy and success during his time at Selma High.
