Granton Middle School And High
School
Kraus Serves as New Granton Principal
Amanda Kraus is the new Middle School and High School
principal for Granton.
She is
familiar to the district, however,
having taught instrumental music in
grades five through 12 for the past two years.
(Valerie Brecht/Clark
County Press)
By Valerie Brecht
Although this is her first administrative
position, Amanda Kraus is familiar with the Granton School District.
Kraus taught as the fifth through 12th grade band director for the past
two years before becoming the middle school and high school principal this year.
Kraus said that she chose to apply for the
principal position because working in administration has always been a calling
of hers.
Kraus completed her Bachelor of Music degree from
St. Norbert College and began her career in education as the choir director for
Columbus Catholic Schools in Marshfield.
She earned her Master’s in educational leadership from St. Mary’s University
while working at Columbus, which she did for eight years.
“When I started at Columbus, I had an
administrator who started the leadership process with me and questioning. Then,
the more I dove into the administrative scheduling and figuring out what the
principal job really entailed, the more that I loved and became passionate about
administration,” she said.
Upon arriving at Granton, Kraus was nearing the
end of earning her administration degree through the NORDA, Inc. WISCAD program.
She worked with the administrators at Granton to complete the on-the-job
experience required for her degree. She
also served as dean of students. These
experiences enabled Kraus to see the administrative side of Granton, she said.
“I’ve already done a lot of student behavioral
things here, made connections and dealt with some of the families already.
So, moving into the principal role was a pretty smooth transition,” she
said.
Kraus said the transition has also been made
easier by having already worked with district superintendent and elementary
principal Scott Woodington.
“We have a great collaborative environment here,”
she stated. “He [Woodington] has years of
experience as an administrator and as a superintendent so that has really aided
me a lot this year in my transition into an administrative role.
Kraus said that the first few weeks as principal
have gone well, although it has been bittersweet with her time as band director
coming to an end. However, Kraus has gotten into a daily rhythm with her new
duties.
For Kraus, a typical day starts with greeting the
students as they enter the school. She
has meetings with students and families throughout the day.
Some of the meetings are disciplinary, said Kraus, while others are
organizational, such as meeting with student leaders of school clubs like FFA or
the National Honor Society.
At lunch, Kraus walks the hallways to check in
with students and see how their day is going and at the end of the day, she
wishes students a good night as they leave.
“I try to be out of the office as much as
possible. That’s my goal as an
administrator is to be in the hallways and in the classrooms so the students get
used to seeing my face around the building,” she said.
Kraus has a couple of goals in mind for the
district as the school year moves forward.
“This year our focus for the middle school and
high school is just consistency – consistency with the handbook, consistency
with how we deal with student behaviors and really coming together as a staff
and being outwardly passionate about teaching,” she said.
Kraus also wants to foster community within the
school. To do this, two teachers came up
with the idea of having a school-wide “Harry Potter” theme.
Each classroom has some type of decoration related to a character or
place in the popular book series. Middle
and high school students and teachers will be sorted into “houses,” teams that
they will then compete with for homecoming events and other activities.
Kraus said she hopes the school-wide theme can
help teachers to connect with students and promote school unity.
Kraus is looking forward to being involved in
Granton’s tight-knit community in a new capacity.
“The biggest thing that drew me to Granton was
the community here – the involvement in the school and really the students
wanting to better themselves academically and character-wise.
We’re a small school and we really get to know your students, … It’s a
really great atmosphere for us to aid them in not only academic growth but
growth as a person.”
“My goal for administration is to connect with
the families and really create a plan for betterment that the students’ families
and community can all be involved in,” said Kraus.
Kraus had the opportunity to apply for the
principal position following the resignation of Julie Kolarik Aug. 13.
Kolarik served as middle and high school principal for one year, but was
offered a job in Wisconsin Rapids, closer to where she lives in Stevens Point.
A long-term substitute teacher is serving as band
director while the district looks for a new band director to fill the vacancy
left by Kraus.
Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI
September 19, 2018
Transcribed by
Dolores
M. Kenyon, September 21, 2018.
Web page by
James W. Sternitzky PhD,
September 22, 2018.
