While this time of the year is great to recover mentally and physically from the rigors of the regular school year, there’s little rest for the weary—especially School Heads. To help you rejuvenate and inspire your mind this summer, we asked ISM Consultants for their recommended summer reads. Consider this your all-you-can-read professional development buffet!

The American saying "Too many cooks spoil the broth" may be more than folk wisdom, if a new study is to be believed. In an attempt to understand why private schools are commonly considered to be superior to their public school peers, researchers evaluated how autonomous school principals were in several key governance areas. Private school principals and Heads apparently wield greater power when compared to that of their public school counterparts, who seemingly cope with an oligarchy of administrators interfering with decisions.

Your Board of Trustees experiences little “down time,” constantly dealing with challenging issues, from Head evaluation and donor cultivation to crisis management and policy setting. The Board can easily lose sight of its primary responsibility—to uphold the essential character and integrity of the school, and to ensure that your school remains viable to serve the children of today’s students. The annual summer Board retreat provides time for a devoted effort for planning. To make your current process more effective, ask and answer the following nine key questions to guide your thinking.

We hope your summer thus far has been both productive and comparatively relaxing. Relative quiet on campus means more opportunities to complete projects and prepare for September. Finally, you have the time to squeeze in a few helpful books on your reading list—and our Consultants have some suggestions to add to your “to be read” stack.

We’ve been expecting this particular overtime rule adjustment for over a year now. Finally, on May 18, President Obama published the final rule and officially increased the new minimum salary requirement. While the minimum has been lowered from a previously suggested $50,000+ annual pay to $47,476, this increase is still over twice the current effective minimum threshold to qualify as overtime-exempt. This change goes into effect on December 1, and could profoundly impact your employees’ compensation. Here, then, are four basic questions from private-independent schools on how the new rule might affect the school community—as a supplement to advice from your school’s legal counsel, of course!

Q: As I start new employee packages, what documents does the Affordable Care Act require that I include?

When it comes to correcting inequality in the United States—for education and beyond—there are two philosophies: Fairness of opportunity and fairness of outcome. Private school Admission Offices often adopt one or the other mindsets, if the school’s mission calls for increased diversity within the student community. While either strategy is “fair” to applicants in its way, both have hidden flaws that may undermine your efforts for developing a more diverse student pool.

With students out for the summer, private schools across the country have an opportunity to breathe and prepare for the coming fall semester. With that in mind, we asked ISM Consultants to offer up their own summer reading list for you this year. We won’t quiz you, but you will improve if you apply the strategies and research found in these books.

Summer break is finally here. Although the next eight to 10 weeks are scheduled with projects you couldn’t focus on while your campus buzzed with students and activities, hopefully, you’ve also penciled some summer fun for yourself. Here are seven reminders and tips for staying safe this summer.

Since the smartphone's introduction in 1994 and the subsequent consumer explosion a decade ago, texting while driving has been a concern. TextingAndDrivingSafety.com reports in 2011, 23% of auto accidents involved cell phones—1.3 million crashes. This comes as no surprise as 55% of young adults claim it’s easy to text and drive, and 77% are very confident that they can safely text while driving. However, 13% of drivers age 18–20 involved in car accidents admitted to texting or talking on the cell phone at the time of the crash.