Maintaining Costs for Summer Program Directors

Academic Leadership // December 30, 2016

Summer programs are often run as completely separate educational programs regarding budgeting, scheduling, planning, curriculum, and staffing. Although part of your schools culture, and commonly sharing its mission, these programs typically don’t share budgets or administrative support. For the Summer Program Director with full-time responsibilities as part of the faculty or Administrative Team, the burden of the summer camp silo can be an overwhelming one.

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Tackling Management-Level Time Wasters

School Heads // December 8, 2016

School leaders never have enough time! Of course, most of you would work incredibly hard irrespective of the contract hours. Still, you’re always seeking ways to get your life into better order, with more control and more balance than you’re experiencing right now. Here are five ways to identify wasted time and turn it into time that works for you.

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Should School Heads Teach?

School Heads // December 8, 2016

Many School Heads, usually having taught in the past, wish to return to the classroom to teach on occasion.You may want to continue teaching for some truly compelling reasons, such as teaching a particular subject that is important to you, staying connected to the students, or wanting your faculty to know you are competent in the classroom and share their successes (and concerns).

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Cash Management Boosts Your Bottom Line

Business and Operations // December 7, 2016

Are you gaining the greatest possible benefit from your school’s cash on deposit? Schools, like most businesses, pay their bills—payroll and invoices for goods bought and services delivered —periodically, usually several times a month. What happens to that money between the time it arrives and the time you make payments? Your school can maximize the income and benefits provided by these large infusions of cash, increasing the funds available for investment.

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Are There Taboo Office Topics Anymore?

Business and Operations // December 7, 2016

The day after Election Day was a somber one for many. The media were going crazy with pro and con debates; activist groups on both sides were hosting rallies; and the majority of us office worker-bees mustered through most of that Wednesday in a daze. Regardless of what side of the political fence you were on, the results required a day of reflection. As a nation, we were imagining our next four years. After we collected ourselves and our thoughts settled, most of us were left in a strange position. Politics is one of those taboo topics HR departments tell us not to discuss during work hours. Like religion, political conversations can quickly enter a red danger zone of offensive or harassing language. This opens organizations up to not just HR claims, but, if the conversation balloons past red and into the purple flashing critical mass zone, your school can find itself in a nasty lawsuit.

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Should You Waive Bylaws to Keep Wealthy Trustees on the Board?

Board of Trustees // December 2, 2016

The Chair of the Committee on Trustees has proposed expanding the Board by asking several wealthy members to continue their terms indefinitely. The goal is to “keep them actively involved with the school.” However, the Board’s bylaws specify that, at the end two consecutive terms, a Board member must sit out for one year. The Chair believes that having these Trustees directly involved as Board members is critical. The school plans to kick off the silent phase of a multimillion-dollar capital campaign this school year, and the strategic plan calls for another campaign four years later. Keeping them on the Board is bound to yield larger gifts, she feels.

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Parent and Trustee? Tread Carefully!

Board of Trustees // December 2, 2016

You’re at the grocery store, in the park, or at church. Another parent from your child’s school walks up and says, “What do you think of the way the Board is handling the dress code issue?” Of course, as a tuition-paying parent, you have an opinion. Your first thought is to respond, “It’s really disappointing. I can’t imagine what’s gotten into them!” However, you’ve just become a Board member. Now what?

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Obtaining Reliable Data From Surveys to Guide Your Decision-Making

Advancement // December 1, 2016

A common and quite costly mistake schools make is to base decisions on unreliable sources, from a small group of vocal parents who claim that “everyone” feels the same way, or national trends that may or may not apply to your school. The key to avoiding this mistake is to assume nothing. Costly examples include the assumption that families are leaving because of the cost of tuition or because you don’t have a swimming pool; that new families aren’t enrolling because the lower school entrance needs a million-dollar makeover; or that parents all want a Mandarin program (and should thus have one).

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Tips for Working With International Student Agents

Advancement // December 1, 2016

International students bring not only revenue to private schools, but an enhanced level of culture to the overall student experience. Over the past decade, international K–12 programs have seen significant growth throughout the U.S. Assisting K–12 schools with this growth are numerous International Student Broker (Agent) firms and independent consultants. Although schools don’t need to partner with brokers to enhance or initiate exchange student and international study programs, most of the schools ISM works with for international student insurance report using agents to help place students, along with other associated tasks. Through our insurance relationships, we have compiled the following five tips for working with an International Student Broker.

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“Free” Doesn’t Mean “No Cost”—The Siphoning of Student Data to Advertisers

Private School News // October 31, 2016

Every program, app, or webinar costs something, even if it’s not money. They require your time and attention, which could have gone toward other priorities. Some require your tacit agreement to receive more information about their goods and services. And some pay for their overhead using student data collected from “free” programs.

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