With strong mental health background, Knecht hired to take over P.J.’s

Metro Wire Staff

P.J. Jacobs Jr. High will have a new principal next year.

Following a lengthy tenure in public service, Principal Dan Dobratz will retire in June. Dobratz was an administrator at the junior high for over two decades. Following three years of retirement, and a stint on the Portage Co. Board of Supervisors, he returned as interim principal at the end of the 2015-16 year and remained at the helm since then.

The Stevens Point Area Public School Board on Monday unanimously approved hiring Jennifer Knecht to replace Dobratz. According to a news release from the district, Knecht was chosen from a “competitive slate of candidates following a nationwide search.”

Knecht has been an employee of the district since 2014 serving first as a social worker at SPASH before moving into her current role as principal at the Charles Fernandez Center, the district’s alternative high school, for the last four years.

She is actively involved in “developing access to and awareness of mental health issues in our community working closely with” the Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Coalition of Portage County, the AODA Coalition, and various Portage County Health and Human Service committees, the news release said.

“My core belief as an educator is that all students can learn,” Knecht said in the release. “It is a privilege and great responsibility to serve our community as a school leader. P.J. Jacobs is a special school and I am grateful for the opportunity to lead such a phenomenal group of students, teachers, and staff.”

Superintendent Craig Gerlach said he’s looking forward to what Knecht will accomplish with the P.J.’s team.

“Jenn’s passion for students and commitment to our community is evident in her work,” he said.

Knecht will officially take the reins on July 1, 2022, following Dobratz’s retirement.