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See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.
Green Corner
Business and Operations // April 25, 2011
Springtime around ISM means it’s time to start our community garden. If your school has a garden, it might also have some native wildlife. Here in our patch, we have a few bunnies and a groundhog we’ve lovingly nicknamed “Tubby.” But, as much as we love to see them visit, we’re not huge fans of what they do to our vegetable garden—especially our bunny friends.
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Keep Your Alumni in the Family
Advancement // April 19, 2011
In your fund-raising efforts, you are most likely focusing on the constituents who are with your school now—current families. But what about your alumni? Alumni and their families are some of your biggest fans, and you should strive to keep them “in the family.” Often, your alumni constituency is a lightly tapped, or untapped, source of support.
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It’s Auction Time!
Advancement // April 19, 2011
Often the spring means it’s auction season—live and/or silent—at private-independent schools. The auction is not only a fund raiser but also usually a fun celebration for everyone. With eBay as a household word, more and more, schools are using an online auction options for their silent auctions.
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Ask the Expert
Advancement // April 19, 2011
Your annual fund is the foundation of all your other fund-raising efforts at your school. This month, Phil Higginson, Assistant Head of School for Institutional Advancement, and Penny Rogers, Director of Communications, both from Ravenscroft School (NC), tackle a question about donor categories and benefits.
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Does Your Teacher Evaluation System Include Professional Development?
School Heads // April 8, 2011
The conventional idea is that teacher evaluation is based solely on classroom observation—and that the annual review is a “lets get it over with” thing. Personal and professional development is not generally part of the equation, and the evaluation system can be viewed as punitive rather than productive.
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School Districts and Productivity: How Do You Rate Return on Investment?
School Heads // April 8, 2011
As Head of a private-independent school, you generally operate on a budget that is rooted in tuition and other hard income matched to the cost to deliver your mission to your students. For your school to operate, you must recruit and retain your students and make every attempt to minimize the “gap” between tuition and cost to educate a student—striving to reduce that gap to zero. For continued success, your Trustees should be mapping out a strategic plan and a strategic financial plan to grow your school for future generations. You use your annual fund and other fund-raising efforts to support the “extras” that define your school.
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Green Corner
Business and Operations // March 31, 2011
As one last winter storm threatens Delaware, we’re still excited to start sharing spring-related articles and green tips. This month our Twitter followers led us to an interesting article on berkeleyside.com, about Sharon Gamson Danks, an urban planner who believes in edible, eco-education.
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ACSI Partners With ISM to Provide Member Schools With 21st Century Insurance and Financial Aid Solutions
Business and Operations // March 31, 2011
Good news ACSI member-school Business Managers, ISM and ACSI have announced their partnership.
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How Does Your School Measure Up To The Competition With Technology?
Business and Operations // March 31, 2011
21st Century Learning, student-centered learning, individualized learning, regardless of what you call it, technology in the classroom—and outside of it—is a hot topic. In fact, it’s a hard topic to ignore.
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Efforts to End Bullying Spark New Concerns
Advancement // March 28, 2011
With homosexual student suicides making headlines, anti-bullying and anti-gay advocates are stepping up and pushing schools to make a change in their sexual education lessons.
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