Economic downturns, natural disasters, and worldwide pandemics—events not only unforeseeable but sometimes interrelated and feeding off one another—will not be going away. As Board President or School Head, seize the opportunity in times of relative normality to keep these facts of institutional life in mind when your Board assembles for its regularly scheduled strategic planning sessions.

Admission Directors often wonder what documentation they should require of applicant families to ensure the most mission-serving outcome for the school. There are obvious requirements, such as students’ transcripts or annual report cards, teacher references from students’ current teachers, and copies of relevant attendance and discipline records. But what about the school’s need to certify the identity and date of birth (DOB) of applicant students? There are important considerations for not only the Admission Director, but also the School Head, Business Manager, Athletic Director, and International Program Director.

A previous I&P article described the evaluation component of ISM’s Growth and Evaluation Framework for Heads, administrators, and nonteaching staff members. Evaluation provides a stable, consistent environment through clear expectations and a process for accountability throughout your school. This gives your employees the security to take on ambitious growth goals, which requires taking risks. 

COVID-19 did not take the private-independent school market by complete surprise. Beginning in the early 2000s, there were conversations in various private school think tanks concerning how our industry would handle a pandemic and the closing of physical buildings. Private schools entered pre-planning and, while we were not completely ready to handle the myriad changes the pandemic caused, we were at least prepared tactically. 

Public support for increasing the minimum wage has risen steadily since 2014. There is now significant federal pressure to consider a $15 per hour national minimum wage. As School Head or Board President, prepare now and update your strategic financial plan accordingly.

ISM’s Comprehensive Faculty Development growth and evaluation framework for teachers was designed to ensure accountability and predictability while emphasizing support for growth. In many schools ISM has worked with, there is far more emphasis on evaluation and development for faculty than for administrators and nonteaching staff. A growth and evaluation framework for all employees that aligns with your process for teachers serves to bring everyone together as a stable, growth-focused community. 

You came into (or will come into) your first School Head position having been successful in roles other than that of Chief Executive. In most of those roles—teacher, grade-level coordinator, Academic Department Chair, advancement professional, finance professional, even (possibly) as a Division Head—you succeeded because you excelled at handling most of the job responsibilities yourself. 

Over the years, ISM has written extensively about the Head Support and Evaluation Committee (HSEC). As the linking unit between governance and operations, both the HSEC’s composition and its reason-for-being are critical to your success as School Head. Regarding the committee’s composition, ...

Private schools often contract with companies to provide various services, e.g., food, maintenance and custodial, grounds care, and transportation. Additionally, schools and other businesses often use temporary employees for short-term assignments. A third employment arrangement is co-employment.&nb...

ISM has long advised School Heads to survey their faculty and students in grades 5 and up annually to measure and monitor the extent to which both groups are experiencing adequate levels of predictability and support. Predictability and support are consistently, positively correlated with enthusiasm...