With technology keeping us virtually connected from wherever we go, snow days shouldn’t be an issue for schools or students facing important placement tests and evaluations. (At least, that’s the rumor.)

For private-independent schools, big or small, an auction can be one of the most exciting (and profitable!) ways to raise large sums at a single time. Our e-List for Advancement Professionals recently fielded an inquiry on the top auction items people have sold. We thought it’d be great to share some original ideas for items to go up on the block and some tricks and tips to remember when running your own.

In our last e-Letter, we talked about how development and admission should work together to accomplish the same goal of building and growing your private-independent school. Today, we’ll take a look at working with your Parent Association.

Last month, we discussed how the Admission Office could seem like another planet to Development Directors, but that it’s possible to keep everyone working toward the same goal: a happy, healthy school pursuing its mission to the best of its ability. Everyone has a different way of approaching the same target, and the different perspectives allow for the shared goal to be achieved. Let’s consider the Development Office. At first, it may seem as though their mission is almost antithetical to yours—after all, asking for money drives people away, doesn’t it?

As the economy improves and families rediscover the funds to invest in their children’s education, you may find that your private-independent school has more interest from prospective students than you have space to accommodate. Enter your wait pool! The wait pool has become a powerful, vital tool for your Admission Office to create the best possible community of incoming students. Sometimes, though, it can seem intimidating for the families waiting for spaces to appear. How can you make your wait pool as painless as possible for these potential families? After all, some of those in the wait pool will attend your school one day. Here are a few points to keep in mind while sorting your applications this spring.

No matter how conscientious and well-intentioned, Trustees (and the Board as a whole) must continually guard against involvement in day-to-day school management. When the Board allows its responsibilities to cross over into the operating plane of the school, it creates a major obstacle to building and maintaining a healthy, harmonious Board/Head relationship. Regardless of how well a school defines the various roles of the Board, it is imperative that the members understand to whom and to what the Board is truly responsible. The Board’s constituency is not comprised of the current students, parents, faculty, or administrators. Trustees must keep in mind that their charge is to maintain the essential character and integrity of the institution and ensure that it remains viable to serve the children of today’s students.

Remember applying for college and having to write a personal statement? Your mission was to sit down, evaluate yourself as well as your goals for tomorrow, and figure out a way to wordsmith it all together in just a few short pages. Even if that experience is long behind you, there is still something you can take away from the college application season—especially if you’re snowed in with nothing but your thoughts. Because when you really get down to it, compiling a personal statement is very similar to how we suggest schools establish their faculty and staff evaluation processes.

UPDATE: The flu has officially reached widespread activity in most states. What does "widespread" mean? It means that more than 50% of geographic regions in a state, counties for example, are reporting flu activity.

Q: Our health insurance company added a surcharge for each participant in our health plan starting last month, January. This charge is not just on our employees but also on their dependents. What is the basis of the charge and can we pass it on to our employees?

Open a newspaper or your home page and you’ll see dozens of stories about data misuse, like this parent who faces felony charges for changing her children’s grades or this student who posted thousands of student records on an anonymous online forum. These security breaches should be anticipated and guarded against, but sometimes the question lies in not who got into your network, but what information you’re keeping there.