It’s that time of year again—hiring season … and it looks like a busy one for many schools! This year, we’ve received a record number of questions about what a good ad should say. Because each school is unique, there isn’t a stock answer to this. However, we can offer five key questions that you should ask (and answer) when writing the ad:

Have you seen the recent news article about the six girls who created a Facebook event, “Attack a Teacher Day,” and were arrested? This story might have turned out differently if their school had a program in place to educate students about social media.

Progress—and success—requires hard work and determination. It’s often easier to fall back on some handy reason why you can’t accept a challenge, or face an issue. In his most recent book, Excuses Begone, self-help guru and motivational speaker, Dr. Wayne Dyer, lists 18 common excuses that people use to rationalize not taking action or striving to improve their lives. While some of these reasons may be very real (feasibility must be considered) many of these excuses are essentially are self-imposed obstacles for taking action.

An often overlooked issue of risk and liability in 21st Century education is the management of student medical records. In today's private-independent school environment, administrators are required to maintain detailed health histories, physicals, allergy information, medications, emergency contacts, and more for a diverse body of students with a wide array of conditions and backgrounds.

“Parent-teacher conferences—we all know how they go. Parents troop into classrooms to talk with teachers about their children's progress in school. Often, the process feels rushed, and parents leave feeling vaguely dissatisfied, as if they didn't really get what they came for.” Does this sound familiar? That description of a parent-teacher conference appeared in an Education World article about a growing trend in reporting student progress to parents: student-led conferences (SLC).

Spring is just around the corner. Along with melting snow, seasonal flowers, and lighter clothes, comes spring sports—softball, baseball, track and field, and lacrosse are just a few of the sports students look forward to as the weather starts to turn nicer. What no one looks forward to are the accidents and injuries that come along with athletic activities. To help reduce your school’s risk of student injury, this article will provide your school with a checklist of expectations for your athletic faculty and staff to review before the season begins.

How many excuses do we use on a daily basis without thinking about them? How do these excuses limit our (personal and) professional growth and that of our organizations? In his most recent book, Excuses Begone, self-help guru and motivational speaker Dr. Wayne Dyer lists 18 common excuses that people use to rationalize not taking action or striving to improve their lives. While the excuses were written primarily to reflect personal mental roadblocks, they are just as apt in regard to professional, organizational, and career roadblocks—i.e., defeatist thinking that causes organizations, managers, and individuals to flounder rather than thrive.

Q: A teacher recently shared with a colleague that she rarely eats more than one meal per day due to allergies, generally feels unwell, and sometimes "binges." The colleague responded that, as a matter of health and safety, she felt she was obligated to inform me (Head of School). When I spoke with the employee, I encouraged her to seek the support and help she needed. The teacher said she would consult with a nutritionist. I said that I would like to follow up with her once she has a plan in place. Before I knew this information, I had already decided that I was not going to rehire this employee. She has received two warnings in which the need for improvement was clearly articulated. However, I never specifically said that her job was in jeopardy. Now that I am aware of a health concern, are there legal implications? If she requests a medical leave, must it be granted?

For the past several years, it has seemed as though the Department of Labor issued a press release once a month touting its hiring of more “wage and hour” investigators and promising to go after employers who fail to pay nonexempt employees overtime pay. We’ve been mentioning this in our workshops for quite a while now, and it has been going on long enough that it isn’t news. However, on the radio the other day that was a new occurrence.

Attention Business Managers: ISM and NBOA’s extended partnership can help your school save 10% off your in-force LTD and AD&D insurance plans. If you’re a NBOA member school, you might have seen the letter that was mailed out on February 9, 2011, from Jeff Shields and Roxanne Higgins announcing the extended partnership along with the details. If you missed it, here are the highlights.