This year, Northwood welcomes its newest addition to its team of administrators, Zack Chutz. Although Chutz is new to Northwood, he is not new to Chatham County. For the past two years, Chutz has been teaching at Horton Middle School, specializing in math and sciences. This year, he was given the opportunity to obtain his master’s degree in school administration.
“They chose two teachers from within the county to go to the program and so they’re putting me through school at UNCG to earn a masters in school administration, and I thought it was an awesome opportunity,” Chutz said. “I had thought about administration before, so now I’m here.”
Chutz was previously a youth program director, but he felt restricted.
“I wanted to get into public education because…public education is everybody,” Chutz said. “That more aligned with my vision of what I wanted to do. Teaching has, one way or another, always been a part of my adult life.”
The program Chutz is a part of is called the Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools program (PPEERS), a state grant that sponsors a select two teachers from rural counties to achieve an administrator’s license.
This program was put into place to promote learning in rural counties. The UNCG website states that “the program involves 11 rural districts in North Carolina that struggle to find and keep effective principals for high-needs schools.”
“I have a unique opportunity this year,” Chutz said. “My one responsibility is to keep up with Dr. [Bartholomew], and that’s what I get to do. It is a pretty awesome learning opportunity. I just get to follow him around, ask him questions and learn this year, which is part of the PPEERS program. They call it ‘elbow learning with the principal.’ Most internships are more devoted to responsibilities, and I’m sure that I’ll pick some of those up over the course of the year. The major intention is just to be next to Dr. B and learn as much as I can.”
Northwood students who attended Horton while he taught there commented on his dedication to his students, saying that he was very involved and “didn’t let students give up.” Northwood students have “seen him around school introducing himself.” For freshman Tyler Blandford from Horton Middle, Chutz is a “familiar face” that he was glad to see.
“He looks out for people,” freshman Malachi Levy said.
Chutz says his biggest goals relate to fairness and opportunity among all students.
“I would like for there to be more equality and equity in our schools,” Chutz said. “So through any means possible, I’d like to achieve those things. Right now, in the short term, it looks like assistant principalship and principalship are the way to do that.”
– By Bella Goupil & Georgia O’Reilly
