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See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.
Healthy Food Revolution in Schools—an Uphill Battle
School Heads // December 12, 2011
British chef and natural foods activist Jamie Oliver, in his crusade against fatty, processed foods in schools, is having a hard time getting his food in a few school districts. According to a report in the New York Times, investigative reporter Lucy Komisar contends that children’s school meals are being driven away from anything healthier by the food supply and processing companies in the name of profit.
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Web Resources on Key Topics
School Heads // December 12, 2011
This month, we surfed the Web to give you a short list of cool resources on a variety of useful—and hot—topics. Here are a few things we found.
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Do You Have the Right Department Chairs?
Business and Operations // November 30, 2011
For some time now, ISM has been writing and speaking about the need for the “department chair” role to change from an “honorary” or “figurehead” role to that of an active manager, coach, and mentor. (For lower schools, this includes “coordinators” or similarly named quasi-administrator roles). This perspective will take on more relevance as we introduce our new evaluation and growth cycle model in the coming months. If you agree with this assertion, the question becomes, “Are your current department chairs well-equipped for taking on new “management” duties?
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Managing Risk by Understanding Your Insurance Policy
Business and Operations // November 30, 2011
One way to manage risk is to transfer the risk to someone else. The most common form of this approach is the purchase of insurance. For a fee (premium) you transfer the responsibility to pay for a loss (less any deductible), to an insurance company.
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Ask Michael
Business and Operations // November 30, 2011
Q: We see that you keep writing about “Characteristics of Professional Excellence.” What would we use this for? Is it just another meaningless list that we’ll put a lot of time and effort into and then put it on a shelf to collect dust?
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Performance Perspectives From the Blogosphere
Business and Operations // November 30, 2011
Blogs, forums, chat rooms, listservs—the list goes on and on. These are valuable resources to find alternative opinions and information about almost anything. From HR concerns to just needing a quick laugh to fuel the rest of your day, blogs can help remind you you're not alone in the all to often chaotic world of private-independent education.
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Cyberbaiting: Get Your Social Media Policy in Place
Academic Leadership // November 30, 2011
Cyberbaiting is a real problem. According to the Norton Online Family Report—which tracks online habits of youth—one in five teachers has experienced cyberbaiting.
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Lessons From the Penn State Scandal
Business and Operations // November 30, 2011
During the past few weeks, college football fans—and the nation at large—have witnessed a scandal engulf an esteemed university (Penn State) and its legendary football coach (Joe Paterno). For private school leaders, the question is: What can we learn from the scandal so that our schools avoid such a fate?
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Virtual Bookstores
Business and Operations // November 29, 2011
Technology has certainly helped streamline the book buying and selling back process. Now, parents, faculty, and students can buy, rent, and sell textbooks online without much hassle at all. It seems the largest bother nowadays is deciding on what bookstore vendor to use for your school.
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Trapped Under An Elevator
Business and Operations // November 29, 2011
Even in the safest school environments, student curiosity can become a risk. A recent story published by the Huffington Post describes how student exploration can go wrong.
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