By Sara Ballenger

Jim Realini is no longer jumping out of airplanes as a member of the Army’s Special Forces but he’s getting his thrills out of being the new principal at St. Nicholas School in Los Altos Hills.

Realini was hired last March as principal, a post he began this school year.

Being an educator is something Realini has always wanted to do. When the time came for him to retire from the military in 1999, it was an easy choice.

“I started out in Catholic schools as a kid,” Realini said. “I went to the University of San Francisco. I went into a teaching internship program at San Mateo High School, but there were no teaching positions.”

After spending time at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale working on video productions to teach military personnel how to use missiles, he went back to the University of San Francisco to pursue a master’s degree in history. It was there he enrolled in ROTC.

During his time in the Army, Realini was stationed in Hawaii, Italy and Fort Bragg, N.C. While at Fort Bragg, Realini realized he wanted to come back to California and pursue a career in education. He ran two military schools while in the Army.

“My goal was to become a principal someday,” Realini said. He needed three to five years of teaching experience to qualify for the position, so he taught English and history at St. Matthew’s School in San Mateo.

“Teaching concepts, philosophies and how you teach applies the same (as teaching in the military). It’s just the subject matter that changes,” Realini said. “You just change your focus from a military training mission to educating children.”

Realini started applying for a principalship and came across the vacancy left by Mary Williams at St. Nicholas.

“This is the second school where I interviewed,” Realini said. “I walked on campus and felt like I had died and gone to heaven. This is one of the most positive environments; it is so caring about kids and their education.”

For his first year on the job, Realini is looking forward to getting to know the community at St. Nicholas and the community at large.

“This year, my goal is to learn everyone’s name and the culture of the school,” Realini said. “This is the year I will be figuring out how things are done here at St. Nicholas and finding ways to make them better. My door is always open.”