Beginning today, Kaala Elementary is inviting students, parents and teachers to share their memories of longtime Principal Ted Fisher on a "remembrance board" at the school. Fisher, who helped boost student achievement at Kaala during his nine-year tenure, died June 15.

"He believed in being a servant and being all there for the kids," said Teri Boucher Thorstad, acting principal at the school in Wahiawa. "He called it ‘servant leadership.’ That’s where we’re going to be continuing."

Fisher, who was 63, died at the Queen’s Medical Center of undisclosed causes. He had been on medical leave since April.

Fisher was born in New York, and joined the state Department of Education in 1978 after a stint in the Air Force. His first job was as a counselor at Kahuku High School. He went on to hold administrative positions at several schools, including leading Aiea Intermediate, Hickam Elementary and Kapaa High and Intermediate, before becoming principal at Kaala.

Under Fisher, the school’s students made significant improvements.

In 2006-07, just 39 percent of students tested proficient in math and 58 percent were proficient in reading. Four years later, 58 percent of students were proficient in math and 63 percent met reading goals.

The improvements were particularly notable given big challenges. In the 2010-11 school year, 82 percent of students were eligible for free and reduced-cost lunches, a key indicator of poverty.

More than one-fifth had trouble speaking English.

Thorstad said the students and staff were Fisher’s family. Everything he did, she said, was about improving educational opportunities for his students.

Through it all, he never took credit, she said.

"He believed that if something turns out well and the school is doing well and people look at themselves and each other and say, ‘I did a good job,’ and they don’t think about him having played a role, then he would say that he has done his job," she said.

Thorstad sent a letter to parents Thursday informing them of Fisher’s death and urging them to seek help if their children need grief counseling. She said children, parents and teachers are invited to post drawings, photos or written thoughts to the "remembrance board" being set up at the school.

Silvia Manley Koch, treasurer of the Wahiawa Neighborhood Board and a counselor at Kipapa Elementary, said Fisher will be missed.

"He was a fair and a just principal," she said. "And he worked hard."

Services for Fisher are being planned. He was not married and had no children, Thorstad said.