The holiday season is also the start of nasty winter weather warnings. Fifty percent of the country has already seen its first taste of snow, ice, and flooding, and predictions are calling for another active season. Here are some tips and guidelines for preparing your school for the months ahead.

Just as we posted an article claiming gun violence was on a decline, another school shooting rattled news media and saddened viewers' hearts around the nation. On October 24, 2014, Jaylen Fryberg sent text messages to friends (including two cousins who were also students) inviting them to join him for lunch in the Marysville–Pilchunck High School cafeteria in Washington State. Sitting together, Fryberg opened fire on his friends with a .40-caliber Beretta handgun that belonged to a family member before turning the gun on himself.

Q: We’re preparing an updated Risk Management plan for 2015. Our committee has really done some great work thus far, seemingly engaged with the task. However, they’ve reached a tricky segment defining and revising the Vendor section. They reached out to me for insight as I’m the Business Manager and can at least provide them with a list of different vendors we have relationships with. But, I’m curious, what should be in a contract when using vendors? What should I be looking for when they propose it for approval?

We guarantee that you’ll start scratching your head at some point during this article. Why? Because we're talking about head lice.

Every employer wants to hire the best candidate for an open position, but private-independent schools must be even more discriminating than just aiming for the best. After all, hiring for mission-appropriateness requires more careful scrutiny of a person’s character and bearing than simply checking off requirements from a resume. So the in-person interview is an essential part of every hiring process. But, if the importance of this interview has you working yourself into a tizzy trying to craft the best interview question or considering how your body posture could intimidate candidates, take a deep breath. In a previous article, we gave you some advice on handling phone interviews. This month, we’ve compiled some quick in-person interviewing tips to make your interviews successful and as stress-free as possible.

The Board has completed the Board’s profile, identifying the skills and experience needed to bring the next stage of the school’s strategic plan to fruition. Now it’s time to determine who can best fill those roles.

A donor establishes a scholarship fund at your school—maybe to attract more diverse applicants or to help remarkably qualified applicants who need financial assistance. The donor, however, expects to have a final say in who receives the scholarship, because it's “her” money providing the opportunity. This type of conflict of interest when it comes to scholarship distribution can quickly lead down a slippery slope of unlawful practices. In fact, other "standard practices" around donor-funded scholarships may be illegal altogether. If you’re in any doubt whether a practice is unlawful—even if it seems like a common-sense decision and the “right” thing to do—you should consult your school’s lawyers to avoid any entanglements. There are, however, a few common pitfalls we see often enough to feel they're worth warning against.

(Primary image credit to Charity Navigator) Elevate your “cause” this holiday season by remembering the core reason of the season: The holidays are a time for giving. To reignite the true meaning of the holidays, the United Nations Foundation and community center 92nd Street Y began an initiative known as Giving Tuesday—or #GivingTuesday, if you’re on social media. The goal of this new “holiday” on the Tuesday following Black Friday and Cyber Monday is to counter corporate forces that have corrupted the giving season to one of capitalistic consumerism. Private-independent schools have adopted the event as an opportunity to remind their communities that they could give the gift of education to local students—thereby turning a national event into a local one.

With the winter holiday season quickly approaching, everyone’s thinking about gift giving—and you’re probably on someone’s list. Both private school administrators and teachers give and receive gifts at school around this time of year, and it’s wise to plan early for thoughtful, appropriate gifts—or consider whether you should receive them at all.

Professional development for all members of a private-independent school is more than just a "perk" to be given if the budget allows. Tools and techniques often change faster than we can adapt, and without specialized instruction for teachers and administrators, a school can quickly lose its edge. At Malvern Preparatory School in Malvern, Pennsylvania, professional development for its teachers takes top priority. Head of School Christian Talbot spared a moment last month to talk with us about how the need for student-centered learning sparked a specialized training program for Malvern’s teachers—their own Summer Institute, where the instructors get instructed.