NEW SCOTLAND — Jennifer Drautz is excited to be the new middle school principal in Voorheesville.

“My desire was to come back to a smaller school community, where you can be more involved with the school and the community,” she told The Enterprise. “It’s a fabulous district…with a lot of interesting extra-curricular programming, particularly around service and character development, and student leadership.”

“I’ve heard good things about her,” said school board President Timothy Blow. “She comes with a very solid résumé. She’s continuing the good work done by Jim Franchini.”

Franchini resigned as middle school president to take the job of assistant superintendent for finance and operations for the district.

Drautz is a Capital Region native, having gone to school in Bethlehem and finished in Latham. She studied history and social studies at State University of New York College at Cortland, and earned a master’s degree in history and political science from The College of Saint Rose, with an additional 30 credits from Saint Rose in educational administration.

She worked as an assistant middle school principal in Rensselaer and, most recently, as a grade-level principal in Saratoga Springs.

Drautz will begin in Voorheesville in August.

“I'm looking forward to becoming a part of the Voorheesville community as we work together to help the growth of, not only outstanding students, but outstanding citizens,” she said.

Drautz likes the initiative by Project Lead the Way, an organization that develops STEM — or science, technology, engineering, and math —curricula, and the emergence of robotics clubs, seeing them as programs that “open avenues for student leadership,” she said.

“I like to say STEAM, not STEM,” Drautz said. “You can bring in the arts.”

By incorporating all subjects, she said, schools can invite “girls and boys into an interest in science and technology and the different types of opportunities out there.”

STEAM encompasses coding, robotics, and computer design, she said.

“The…students are exposed to any variation of the arts,” she said. “It kind of completes that circle.”

For example, Drautz said, students benefit when they produce and perform a play.

“They get camaraderie going,” she said, noting that teamwork is a valuable skill.

A variety of art media allows every child to learn and benefit from expression, she said.

“Every curricular area really does have a place,” Drautz said. “You will make sure you reach every student. I’m a fan of the arts and having those opportunities for students.”

Old and new

“I want to start with getting an idea of what’s already in place,” she said about the middle school programs.

Drautz said that she likes to offer character development for students.

“There’s quite a bit in Voorheesville Middle School,” she said. She wants to examine the current programming with her staff, she said.

Along with character development, Drautz said, “How are we promoting social growth?”

One program she liked in Saratoga that was offered to families was called Parent University.

“It’s a great program, and wide open on the topics we can bring in,” she said. Families discussed academics, like Common Core, and children’s experiences like transitioning between grades.

They also talked about research on children’s brains.

Sometimes, when children say they do not know why they acted the way they did, Drautz said, “They really don’t know why they did something.”

Drautz said that she would like to open the school more to parents, and to provide various forms of communication for all community members.

“I hope they’re as proud of it as we are,” she said.

“The school is as successful as the community allows,” she said. “Voorheesville is already good.” She hopes that she and her staff, with the community, can look for new ways to improve further, she said.

“I’m truly excited about the opportunity to come here,” Drautz said. “It felt great when I was there meeting with the parents and meeting with the teachers.”

Drautz is looking forward to seeing how things are done at Voorheesville, after her 24 years in education, she said.
“I’m excited at another new process,” she said.