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.
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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.
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See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.
Provide Hands-on Tech Experience With a Student-run IT Help Desk
Private School News // March 28, 2018
The role technology plays in our schools and in the lives of our students only continues to expand. Your school has probably already worked to incorporate technology into classrooms and administrative functions. But, as technology becomes more ingrained in every aspect of school operations, your IT staff may start to feel the strain.
Read MorePreparing for a Powerful Full-Board Presentation
Board of Trustees // March 20, 2018
When a Board committee or Trustee is on the agenda to present a proposal to the Board, expect him or her to come thoroughly prepared. The following template can help Trustees organize proposal presentations.
Read MoreThe Essential Role of the Annual Fund Chair
Board of Trustees // March 20, 2018
Because the annual fund is broad-based and occurs regularly, it connects your school with the widest possible group of donors in your community and works to instill in them the habit of giving. The annual fund also opens the opportunity to identify individuals who later might become primary supporters of your capital, endowment, and major gift programs.
Read MoreStrengthen Your School’s Volunteer Program to Benefit Your Students and Community
Academic Leadership // March 19, 2018
Many private-independent schools want their students to become purveyors of positive change in their communities. School leaders, therefore, incorporate this fundamental goal into their missions, and create service learning programs to help deliver on their pledge.
Read MoreThe Benefits and Challenges of Personalized Learning
Academic Leadership // March 19, 2018
Personalized learning initiatives—a specific focus on matching students’ individual learning styles and competencies to their educational processes—have long been a focus for private-independent schools. As technology makes personalized learning initiatives even more individualized, a new study has analyzed the impact of personalized learning and whether it’s truly helping students succeed.
Read MoreThree Crucial Truths to Uncover During Exit Interviews
Advancement // March 15, 2018
A family can choose to leave your school for many different reasons. It’s up to the Admission office to determine why—and surface any underlying financial or culture issues that might be plaguing your school, causing families to choose other educational institutions.
Read MoreThe First Step of Any Successful Fundraising Campaign
Advancement // March 15, 2018
Your case statement is a core element of every fundraising campaign. This marketing tool communicates with donors and prospects, and begins the process of matching their values and interests with your school’s mission and guiding principles.
Read MoreHow to Manage a Sudden Enrollment Shift
School Heads // March 5, 2018
It can be a worst-case scenario for a School Head. You work with your team to solidify your budget months in advance, and plan for the coming school year accordingly. But, in August, you realize that fewer students enrolled than you had planned, or perhaps an unexpected increase in expenses surfaces.
Read MoreEnsure Your Long Term Disability Benefits Are Right for Your Community
Business and Operations // March 5, 2018
Your school is always looking to attract and retain the best mission-appropriate faculty and staff to help your students succeed. Your school’s benefits package serves as a powerful ally in quest. Ensuring that your current and prospective employees are adequately protected illustrates for them that they are a valued part of your organization.
Read MoreCommunicate End-of-Year Changes Effectively
School Heads // March 5, 2018
It’s getting warmer, the days are getting longer and, yes, we are quickly approaching the end of the school year. No doubt spring brings excitement to your hallways, but there’s still much to do before the school year concludes. As School Head, you must navigate the changes that will take place at the end of the year.
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