Virtual & Onsite Consulting Services


Ensure that your school’s governance and operations support your mission.
We work together with your leaders, teachers, staff members, and students to understand your school’s unique needs, strengths, and challenges. We help you create a plan to help you meet your goals.
Your team can then put these mission-appropriate recommendations into action to achieve increased cash reserves, higher enrollment levels, and long-term stability. At the end of the day, we all have a singular purpose—advance school leadership to enrich the student experience.
We offer personalized consultations for many leadership divisions of a private school—the Board of Trustees, School Heads, the Business Office, the Development Office, Enrollment Management professionals, Marketing professionals, and Academic leaders. Select the area of school leadership you’d like to further explore.

ISM’s Consulting Services can be conducted virtually, ensuring you get the support you need, no matter the circumstances. Learn more by contacting our School Success team.
Our Consulting Services
School Head
Whether you want to ensure that all school functions run at peak efficiency or are considering implementing new strategies and initiatives, lean on a trusted source of knowledge to increase the likelihood of long-term success.
Business & Operations
Take advantage of a full range of planning, facilities, and operations consulting services that give your school a solid footing for the future. Examine where your key operations work well, and where they can use improvement.
Academic Leadership
Your programs set your school apart. Explore how to create and build programs that pull families in and give them an experience they couldn’t have at another private-independent school.
Admission & Enrollment Management
ISM’s data-informed approach pinpoints what attracts families to your school and inspires them to stay. Receive customized solutions based on your school’s unique marketplace stance, challenges, and opportunities.
Fundraising & Development
Learn how to develop successful strategies to engage and bring donors closer to your institution. No matter your school size, history, or pedagogy, explore how to plan, implement, and evaluate your fundraising strategies to realize your full potential.
Marketing Communications
Explore how to share exceptional stories of student learning, engagement, and outcomes, and illustrate how these can become differentiators that distinguish your school from your competitors.
Board of Trustees
The Board must focus its efforts on governing, planning, and financing your school's future, while leaving everyday decisions to competent administrators. To do that successfully, your Board must think, plan, and act strategically.
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One-on-One Coaching for New Heads
Work with an ISM Consultant in your first years of Headship to set you on a path to success.
•Data-Driven Diagnostics •
• Coaching •
• Customized Support •
Help Your School Thrive
ISM members receive access to exclusive, research-based strategies for every leadership division of your school. Take advantage of guidance, savings, and much more.
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See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.
Withholding Information on Marketing Materials: Advantages and Disadvantages
Advancement // January 12, 2015
As an Admission Officer, your mission is to form relationships with prospective families, which you can't do until they first contact your school. One of the ways in which you can entice families to call the office is to exclude important information from print materials and the website. This technique can certainly work, but some schools believe in a policy of transparency, maintaining that building trust with future parents is more important than providing an excuse for the initial contact. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to withholding information from marketing materials, so let’s break down some of the nitty-gritty details.
Read MoreTop Ten Admission Articles of 2014
Advancement // January 12, 2015
Over the past year, we’ve written about everything from perpetual enrollment to the contents of your school’s welcome packet—and we’ll be sure to cover more hot topics in the year to come. Before we move on, though, let's look back to the top-read articles in the Admission e-Letter over the past year.
Read MoreThree Research-Based Ways to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
Private School News // January 8, 2015
New Year’s resolutions are popular to make, but difficult to keep. After all, you wouldn’t have to dedicate yourself to the formation of a new habit if it were easy—you’d already be doing it! But it is possible to keep your commitments this year, if you follow the conclusions found by researchers looking to discover the panacea for personal behavior modification.
Read MoreThrowback Thursday: Top Ten Articles of 2014
Private School News // January 8, 2015
The start of a new year is a time of reflection. In Private School News, we’ve written about everything from tuition remission to communicating with your IT department—and we’ll be sure to cover more hot topics in the year to come. Before we move on, though, let’s look back to articles from our top-read e-Letters in 2014.
Read MoreNightcaps and Rants
Private School News // January 8, 2015
Drinking and driving is illegal, but drinking and emailing is not. Even if perfectly legal, the mix of impaired judgment and instant communication isn't one we'd recommend. According to a new study, though, there’s more than a few parents out there who do just that to their private school’s teachers and administrators.
Read MoreAre You Compliant? Affordable Care Act Requirements for 2015
Business and Operations // January 6, 2015
Now that you've returned from a well-deserved winter break, you must ensure your school is ready for the 2015 requirements as outlined in the Affordable Care Act.
Read MoreParents May Be Held Liable for Students’ Social Media Activity
Academic Leadership // January 6, 2015
A Georgia appellate court has ruled that parents may be held liable for what their children post on social media accounts. During the year-long debacle, a school became involved—but by following the school’s policies, the principal kept her school’s community out of the lawsuit, mentioned only as a byline.
Read MoreAsk ISM's Health Care Reform Specialist
Business and Operations // January 6, 2015
Q: I heard that the deadline to pay for a policy purchased on the exchange was December 15. With the holidays, I missed my first payment, so what can I do now?
Read MorePrivate Schools Participate in “Hour of Coding”
Academic Leadership // January 6, 2015
Only one in 10 schools teaches students how to code—at least, according to Code.org, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding computer science’s prominence in the classroom until it’s as fundamental a subject as math or reading. In celebration of Computer Science Education Week, Code.org introduced the basics of JavaScript, a common programming language, to millions of students around the world with their “Hour of Code” tutorials for “ages 4 to 104”—and private schools got in on the action.
Read More3 Resolutions for the New Year
Business and Operations // January 6, 2015
January 1st has come and gone, but it’s never too late to turn over a new leaf! We’ve developed this list of resolutions for you to commit to over the coming year.
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