Educate, delegate to staff, and thrive as a School Head
Being the Head of a small school can be a daunting task. After you’ve spent your career teaching and working your way up into administration, when you become responsible for everything, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
(ISM’s Silver Membership can offset challenges for small schools by providing the support you need to manage the details, delegate tasks, and help your institution thrive. Get started today: go.isminc.com/silver.)
The Challenge
Smaller schools—in most cases, schools with less than 300 students—often have minimal staff. You may not have a huge budget either. So while your school probably recruited wonderful people, many may lack experience or depth of knowledge.
Small schools tend to have one person in charge of a department. This means there is often no one to bounce ideas off, and when additional oversight or direction is needed, it often falls on the School Head.
The same situation may exist with your school Board. As the School Head, you may be required to be more hands-on with a Board that, while enthusiastic, lacks experience in private school leadership. Not to mention, you’re trying to train administrators, staff, and faculty and teach them how to function—which may not be exactly your area of expertise.
The Solution
Even if you are limited by a shoestring budget, you can still provide your team with the tools they need to succeed.
ISM's Silver Membership offers your entire school unlimited access to Ideas & Perspectives and weekly webinars. With our 45+ years of experience working with private schools, our in-depth research, and the content we provide, your team will have all they need at their fingertips. You will all lead with confidence.
Plus, at just $1,400 per year, ISM Silver Membership is accessible to schools of all sizes and pedagogies.
Here’s how ISM Silver Membership can help.
ISM membership gives department leaders the tools needed to do their jobs effectively—allowing you to focus on your tasks as School Head. As an ISM member, you have access to in-depth roadmaps of what personnel should be doing. Plus, we’ll show you how to develop your talent and your volunteers—eliminating the burden of micromanagement so you’re free to lead.
ISM offers school leaders, staff, faculty, Heads, and Board members various resources.
Ask questions related to this Source article or other topics you've encountered lately.
Visit our NEW Community and start posting
ISM Membership Benefits
- Ideas & Perspectives—our research-based, advisory periodical in print and online
- Unlimited ISM live and on-demand webinars for your entire organization
- ISM Core Principles—the tenets of effective school governance
- Evaluation tools
- Specific how-to information for all aspects of managing a school
- An interactive, responsive community
Valuable Resources
Small schools can save money and access valuable resources—they’re all included in an ISM membership. In other words, ISM gives schools the resources that a professional consultant would provide, without the added expense in time and dollars.
Providing guidance based on industry standards, our expertise saves time and money, and helps you avoid teacher burnout. Most Heads say the resources provided to small schools are easily worth the money. Can you afford not to have a membership?
“I so appreciate ISM’s unified, well-reasoned vision for effective school management.”
-Christina McClendon, Library and Technology Department Chair
Harvard-Westlake School, CA | ISM Silver Member since 2015
Upcoming ISM Events for School Heads
If you’re a School Head looking for support or hoping to get the most out of your membership, check out this Cohort: The New Heads Cohort: Fall Semester is designed specifically for Heads in the first three years of their headship.
