Community Corner
Community Corner

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

Aim for Sticky Messages

Advancement // February 14, 2013

SUCCES. No, it’s not a misspelling. It’s the acronym for what authors Chip and Dan Heath call “sticky messages.” In their book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, the Heaths outline six key principles that are the recipe for messages that resonate. Consider how to adapt SUCCES into your marketing message.

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School Environment Health Programs

Board of Trustees // February 12, 2013

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed voluntary guidelines to assist K–12 schools in establishing and implementing environmental health programs in accordance with the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007. In carrying out this statutory mandate, EPA, along with its federal partners, developed these guidelines to help states establish the infrastructure needed to support schools in implementing school environmental health programs.

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Ask the Consultant

School Heads // February 6, 2013

Q: It has recently been suggested that we should stop using employment contracts with staff employees. Do you agree with this advice? And, if we discontinue using contracts, we have to communicate their new salaries to employees in some way. What do you suggest?

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Public Schools Recruit International Students for Income, Diversity

School Heads // February 6, 2013

Back in 2011, we profiled Millinocket, Maine’s Sterns High School; the school's mission is to recruit up to 60 students from China in an effort to boost numbers and income. The rural school district brought in only six students, hampered by a VISA restriction of one year for international students in public schools, as well as a recruiter in China that did not deliver. And it didn't help that a writer gave a Chinese newspaper a less-than-stellar description of Sterns, the AP reported. Still, Sterns is continuing its program to allow it to grow.

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Global Education for Global Citizenship

Academic Leadership // January 30, 2013

It’s a Small World After All.” Anyone who grew up in the 60s and practically anyone who has visited a Disney resort can probably hear that song, which debuted at the 1965 World’s Fair, in their mind’s ear. It’s a cute, sing-songy way to say what Socrates did more than 2,400 years ago. “I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.”

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Drink up!

Academic Leadership // January 30, 2013

The mix of temperatures during the winter wears down our immune systems. Indoors, it's nice and toasty; outside it's frightfully cold. Our bodies have to adapt within seconds to drastic changes. For some of us, this equates to mid-winter colds and the flu due to compromised immune systems.

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You and the Flu: What To Know and Do

Academic Leadership // January 30, 2013

In early January, Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, PA, had so many people coming into the emergency room with flu symptoms that it set up a mobile ER—actually a large tent—to handle the flow.

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Scaring the Trouble Out of Troubled Teens

Private School News // January 29, 2013

“What is wrong with today’s teens?” many are asking. With school shootings, bullying, teen suicides, and violent teen crimes making headlines we’re left shaking our heads and wondering how to approach the rising concerns. For those who believe that tough love is the answer to scaring troubled teens straight, the following findings may surprise you.

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Green Corner: How Green is Your Playground?

Business and Operations // January 29, 2013

Winter weather most likely has your mind preoccupied on snow removal, heat conservation, and winter maintenance. However, if your school is located in the south or west, winter maintenance concerns are minimal, and even for those located in snowier regions, playground updates are always somewhere on your to-do list.

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Safer With Armed Guards?

Private School News // January 29, 2013

Since last month's tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, school administrators and government officials have been looking at different processes and risk management procedures to secure U.S. schools. One idea is for schools to have armed guards on campus.

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