When beloved members of school communities choose to retire after decades of loyal service, most would be satisfied a small party with cake and a card filled with handwritten, heartfelt sentiments. But when a security guard at the Hockaday School retired after thirty years on the job, his school community spontaneously came together to offer a fitting farewell to the man who had guarded its students: A check for $185,000. Photo credit to The Scoop/Dallas News

Last year, we wrote about the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed changes in salary for exempt employees. To summarize: Employees are “exempt” from overtime pay and minimum wage laws if their job duties classify them as “bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees” who make a salary of at least $445 per week ($24,500 annually). The rule proposal may bump the minimum salary requirement to $50,440 per year, or $970 weekly. Professionals who make less than that would become eligible for overtime pay. However, groups have begun organizing against this rule change. They argue that the new regulations would place an undue financial burden on nonprofits and smaller companies that would not benefit either employees or organizations. As we look ahead to the coming debates, some breathing space for your nonprofit school may be on the horizon.

Continuing education for professionals in every industry keeps employees in the know with the latest-and-greatest tools and techniques, increasing their worth to their employers while keeping morale high. In fact, it’s so important, most states require their licensed teachers to pursue formal continuing education after their initial certification! While the recent recession may have cut into professional development budgets a few years ago, a recent report shows employers’ renewed emphasis on the importance of continuing education for their employees.

In terms of private dollar donations, the United States gives more money to charity than any other country. According to The Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies’ comparative report for 36 countries, Americans gave 1.85% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in donations from 1995–2002. While Americans are generous with their fiscal resources, the question remains whether the average donation dollar tends toward your type of nonprofit: A private-independent school.

Does your school have a special milestone approaching? Such anniversaries offer an excellent opportunity to ramp up advancement efforts. Start planning for those special years, and take advantage of the community spirit to push your school’s advancement plans to the next level.

New enrollment contracts enter the Admission Office each spring, bringing fresh faces and new hopes to the school community. But, your job as the Admission Director doesn’t end with enrollment! To assist with future re-enrollment, making sure your new families are as welcomed as possible within the new school community is vital. Try these six ways to make new students and their parents feel part of your school from Day One.

Last month, we spoke to lessons that School Heads could take away from the recent Mount St. Mary’s University debacle, which included students compared to bunnies that needed “Glocks put to their heads” and suspect dismissal of tenured teachers. School Heads aren’t the only administrators who can learn from this dramatic story, though. In fact, Admission Directors probably could have helped avert the entire problem before it exploded in catastrophic waves for the entire Mount St. Mary’s community.

When a student is the odd man (or woman) out at recess, it can be discouraging and awkward for that student to try inserting him- or herself into ongoing games. But—through one young student’s clever and simple idea—loneliness on the playground might be a thing of the past, thanks to the Buddy Bench.

In the 2004 comedy Mean Girls, the movie follows an insular and materialistic group of “popular” teenage girls—aptly named “the Plastics”—and its odd inclusion of a young lady who sought community and acceptance at her new school. As the actresses’ antics devolve into a predictable high school drama-fest, the movie itself offers a startling look into what can happen in toxic student communities. These toxic communities may be funny when presented on the big screen, but their formation is especially troubling after recent events at a public high school in Wilmington, Delaware. A freshman was killed fighting over a boy with another female student, during which she was surrounded and assaulted in the girls' restroom. To combat this potential for dangerous, damaging relationships to form within student social circles, Headteacher Jane Lunnon at Wimbledon High School—an independent girls’ day school in Wimbledon, England—invited educational speaker and trainer Emma Gleadhill to discuss how to build healthy relationships, both in school and later in life.

Families enroll their children in private schools for many reasons, including safety, unique educational opportunities, and their students’ ultimate academic future. That future often includes higher education and college—and the practically required expectation of standardized testing. In the last few years, several comparison studies lend third-party support to the theory that private-independent education better prepares students for college than public schools do, as indicated by those test scores.