Virtual & Onsite Consulting Services

Onsite Consulting
Onsite Consulting

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.

 

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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See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.

What Does Your Body Language Tell Others?

Advancement // December 10, 2009

A recent study in Psychological Science reveals that nonverbal cues can give away a person's socioeconomic status (SES). Just what is SES? It can be determined by several factors such as wealth, occupation, and schools attended, and influences our daily lives in both introverted and extroverted ways. Someone with an upper SES may dine on sushi and gourmet cheeses, be a member of a country club, and/or flaunt the cars they drive. These are the extroverted signs. The introverted signs that were just recently studied, are the nonverbal, body language cues that different SES classes posses.

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Ask Michael

Business and Operations // December 10, 2009

Q: A staff member just came to see me about what she called a "sexual harassment incident." I feel so badly that she was subjected to this—and I want to confront the person who did this to her (i.e., a faculty member). How should I handle this?

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Simplifying Your Financial Aid Process

Business and Operations // December 10, 2009

It is no secret that financial aid applications have been at an all-time high this year. Even some parents who don't necessarily need financial aid have been applying. There's nothing to lose in trying, right? They're right—there's not. But it does create more paperwork and a need for more manpower in your Business and Admission offices. If you're finding the extra applications and requests for financial aid are starting to take a toll on your nerves (and everyone else in your office), first take a deep breath, and then look into some of the software programs available on the market—especially if you're using software now that's causing your headaches. (Dealing with stress? Click here for tips on stress management.)

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How Is Your Hard Work Recognized?

Advancement // December 10, 2009

In a recent survey from OfficeArrow, 388 administrative professionals shared how they prefer to receive positive feedback at work. Ask yourself where you fit into these results.

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Ask Michael

Business and Operations // December 10, 2009

Q: Can an EAP help us reduce sick time?

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The Swine Flu Chatter Is Finally Calming Down

Business and Operations // December 10, 2009

All the chatter about the swine flu has died down. New cases are continuing to pop up here and there, but for the most part, everything the public needed to know has been communicated.

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Inside the Teenage Mind

Advancement // December 10, 2009

(This article is based on a piece originally appearing in Delaware Online. You can read the original article here.) Thirteen seems to be that magical age when a parent's sweet little angel, and a teacher's quiet star, morphs into a little person they no longer recognize. They suddenly have no interest in family, pour all their attention into their friends and socializing, and seem to forget the concept of danger.

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More Employers Consider Financial Literacy Programs

School Heads // December 10, 2009

The following information is provided courtesy of The Society of Human Resource Management. A recent survey indicates that the number of employers offering financial education and literacy programs to their employees is expected to increase.

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The Swine Flu Is Predicted to Return This Fall

Business and Operations // December 10, 2009

Last month we wrote an article claiming that the swine flu hype was finally calming down. Here in the states, the chatter has all but ceased. But now specialists are claiming that the fall might revive the swine flu—and that it might come back with a vengeance, being stronger and more far-reaching than it was this spring.

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How to Make Your School Newsletter Interactive

Advancement // December 10, 2009

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn—if you're not a member of at least one of these online communities, what are you waiting for? Social networking is the place to be! Join a "group," become a "fan," or support a "cause"—and have others join your school's group, or become a fan of your page. If your school has a monthly newsletter, these sites make great platforms to offer additional information to your reader. They also allow your readers to interact with your materials, which is what most readers are looking for—especially if your newsletter is delivered by e-mail.

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