Guiding the Community She Loves

When Jan Verderame came to the Southington school community 17 years ago, she knew she’d found a home. Now she’s leading a school of her own – and she said she couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Verderame officially took post as Derynoski Elementary School principal on July 1, enjoying an easy transition from vice principal to the school’s chief. She succeeds Karen Smith, who left the position to take on the challenges of the district’s assistant superintendent.

"I pretty much just moved from next door to this office, it was a rather seamless transition," Verderame said. "There is still a little bit of a learning curve, but so far it's been great."

Verderame spent 14 years working as a speech-language pathologist at Thalberg Elementary before taking the assistant vice principal job in 2008. She said she always knew she wanted to work with kids and found speech pathology a perfect fit because she could directly help students. 

"I loved teaching; you get so much satisfaction watching the children learn and grow," Verderame said. "I especially love elementary school students because they're generally excited to learn - they're like sponges absorbing everything you put in front of them."

Verderame first got a taste of what it was like to be an administrator while serving as a teacher. During that time, she began taking on leadership roles with curriculums and projects, which led to her interest in school administration, she said.

She is the district's English Language Learning coordinator, the special education chairperson, and a mentor for Southern Connecticut State University students in the administrative leadership program.

She said she's loved her job as assistant vice principal, and looks forward to even more direct leadership opportunities.

"I absolutely love it," Verderame said. "You can affect change at a different level, which is what I like about working in leadership, but I still can spend time with the kids, which is very rewarding."

Board of Education Chairman Brian Goralski said Verderame's understanding and commitment to the community stand out among the applicants.

"Jan is a face in our community, being involved with Activate Southington, the YMCA and other initiatives, so it was her involvement that really made her stand out," Goralski said. "What made Jan stand out to us was her understanding of the community, her understanding of the vision of the Southington school system, and her commitment to our town."

Derynoski school is the largest of the town's elementary schools. Under her leadership, Verderame said she hopes to expand the school's STEPS program and find ways to become more involved with the community. She wants to continue to emphasize and develop the school's 'character counts' program, instilling good behaviors into the children's instruction and daily routines.

"We're going to keep bringing that into the classroom, and letting kids hear character counts ... over morning announcements, learn songs, and those kinds of things," Verderame said. "That's so important."