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.
Questions? Let's Talk!
Your message has been sent.
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.
Search
See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.
How to Assess True Trustee Performance
Board of Trustees // May 28, 2019
Part of the Board President’s due diligence is to determine how effectively Trustees carry out their roles. Start with the basics.
Read MoreFour Tips to Guide Your Growth as an Academic Leader
Academic Leadership // May 24, 2019
Academic leaders act as an essential bridge within the school. Here are four tips to grow your personal and professional leadership skills so you can continue to support your direct reports, students, and school.
Read MoreHow to Create an Effective Teacher Induction Program
Academic Leadership // May 23, 2019
You know how critical it is to select the right teachers for your school, and give them the proper tools and experiences to excel in your environment. There are a host of things that a new teacher needs to understand. This is where an induction program can help.
Read MorePrepare Now to Set Next Year’s Annual Fund Up for Success
Advancement // May 17, 2019
Your annual fund strategy should function as an effective tool for informing, involving, and bonding your constituencies to your school. It creates a structure for giving your community opportunities to become more educated about your students, the excellence of your faculty, and your school’s ability to accomplish its mission.
Read MoreWaitlist Versus Wait Pool—Which Term Makes Sense for Your School?
Advancement // May 17, 2019
As the Admission or Enrollment Management Director, you know how important it is to fill your seats with mission-appropriate students. We discuss the difference between waitlist versus wait pool.
Read MoreThe Importance of Tracking Alumni Accomplishments
Advancement // May 16, 2019
Highlighting what your alumni accomplish after graduation is one of the best ways to market your school. By using real-life examples to illustrate student outcomes, prospective families can see the value your school provides—and choose to send their children to your institution.
Read MoreKey Elements of Your School’s Insurance Policy
Business and Operations // May 10, 2019
An effective insurance policy is one where your school transfers risk to a third-party to protect your school’s long-term interests. But sometimes it helps to have a breakdown of how exactly to read an insurance policy to ensure it provides the protection you require.
Read MoreReducing Operating Costs—Without Causing Panic
Business and Operations // May 9, 2019
It can feel like your job constantly revolves around cutting costs and balancing budgets. An area where many Business Managers focus their attention when it comes to the budget is employee benefits.
Read MoreWhy Traditional Teacher Evaluation Doesn’t Work—And What You Can Do About It
School Heads // May 2, 2019
Traditional evaluation doesn’t give you the full picture of which teachers are effectively supporting your students and which aren’t, or provide enough context to create professional development plans for growth.
Read MoreFour Steps Your School Must Take Before Launching a Fundraising Campaign
School Heads // May 1, 2019
Launching a new fundraising campaign is both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. Whether you are planning a capital campaign for a specific purpose or an annual fund campaign to support enhancements for the current year, there are certain elements your school must have in place to be successful.
Read More