3 Ways to Effectively Communicate Your Student Handbook

Academic Leadership // September 19, 2016

Student handbooks contain all the policies, rules, and regulations that outline expectations for everyone at your school. However, they’re often notoriously dry documents that can be dismissed by folks not paying attention. Sure, you can send home a “contract” stating that the student (and his or her parents) have read the handbook and will abide by the policies, but that’s hardly a guarantee of painstaking attention to every detail. So for our September 2016 issue of The Source for Academic Leadership, let’s take a moment or two to discuss your school’s plan for policy dissemination to your students.

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The Advising Role in Your Faculty Hiring Process

Academic Leadership // September 15, 2016

For a comprehensive approach to the faculty hiring process, include the advising role you require of your middle- and upper-school teachers. Your advisory program and advising role(s) should be not merely included but also highlighted in the process. Candidates should walk away from their campus visits with a clear sense of the role, some understanding of how it supports school mission, and, ideally, some enthusiasm for taking it on. Failure to inform (even inspire) prospective teachers in this way implicitly undermines, from the outset, a sense that the role is taken seriously at your school.

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The Potential of Pokémon Go

Advancement // September 14, 2016

In the last issue of The Source for Private School News, we discussed the impact that the new mobile game Pokémon Go may have on the private-independent school community. The Admission Office, in particular, could leverage the gaming sensation to great benefit during its recruitment sessions this fall.

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Remind Donors of What They Accomplish: An Ice Bucket Challenge Update

Advancement // September 14, 2016

Two years ago, The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association ran an extremely successful fundraiser that encouraged people to donate to their organization, film themselves dumping buckets of water on their heads, and challenge others to do the same. We wrote about the lessons to be taken away from the viral episode and filed it away as a one-and-done subject. We were wrong to dismiss it so easily, as The ALS Association beautifully leveraged their previous success to offer those of us in the development world another great lesson: Remind your donors what their sacrifices have accomplished, and so grow the relationship.

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5 Ways to Attract Homeschool Students

Advancement // September 14, 2016

Homeschooling is increasingly becoming a viable option for parents looking for alternatives to traditional classroom learning. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), for example, showed a 54% increase in the practice from 2002 to 2012 (1), and stories like the wunderkind twelve-year-olds starting their engineering degrees at Cornell University (2) inspire other families looking to nurture their gifted children. However, rather than looking at homeschooling programs as competition for your private school, look to them as you would any other “feeder school”—as an opportunity to expand the pool of prospective students. This month, let’s discuss the ways in which you can leverage the unique opportunity of homeschooled students.

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A Pokémon Go Primer for Private Schools

Private School News // August 2, 2016

If you’ve noticed more people than usual roaming your neighborhood, noses glued to their phone screens, then you’ve already encountered this summer’s biggest gaming hit: Pokémon Go. Popular with adult gamers and school-aged children alike, the game presents both opportunities and concerns for school administrators. So this month, we’ll talk about what Pokémon Go actually is, potential dangers for your students—and possible ways to leverage the game’s popularity to benefit your school.

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Do Cafeterias Interfere With Financial Aid? —A Look at School Priorities

Private School News // August 2, 2016

There’s been some amusing hubbub in the education world this summer regarding financial aid and fiscal priorities. Popular educational writer Malcolm Gladwell proposed an odd correlation on his podcast, Revisionist History: The greater a college’s investment in quality food, the lower its commitment to socioeconomically diverse student populations in the form of financial aid. This debate in higher education can be reframed for K-12 private-independent schools, in that your school’s investment in various programmatic aspects should reflect its mission, not the latest fads.

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Seven Academic Buzzwords to Define in 2016-2017

Private School News // August 2, 2016

Remember when all educators could talk about were MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)? While they’re still around and useful for the modern classroom, new educational trends and vernacular have entered common parlance in efforts to make curriculums and philosophies sound appealing, stealing some MOOC thunder. Before you start trying to integrate every great new idea Google throws your way, remember that buzzwords must be carefully defined if used by you and your fellow administrators. Otherwise, you risk compromising your projects due to proverbial crossed wires. This month, we’ve collected some of the most popular buzzwords that educators can expect to hear in the coming school year—along with their actual definitions given by leading experts.

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2016 Shows A Dip in Wellness Benefits

Business and Operations // July 12, 2016

Over the last decade, there has been an upward trend for employers to incorporate wellness programs into their employee incentive and benefit portfolios. Such benefits have been considered tools, helping to reduce health insurance costs and paid sick time as well as boost overall employee morale. However, a new study shows that companies are starting to move in the other direction concerning wellness benefits—cancelling incentives due to a perceived lack of ROI and participation. Can it be that the wellness bubble has popped?

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Oh Look, More Acronyms to Memorize! SEVIS, SEVP, and DHS

Business and Operations // July 12, 2016

If your school has an international student program or is considering one, you might be well aware of the acronyms SEVIS, SEVP, and DHS. For those not familiar with the acronyms, as you might have guessed, they relate to the nitty-gritty, compliance side of international student programs. These acronyms need to be universally understood throughout your Business, Admission, and School Head’s offices. Although the enrollment process may start and conclude in the Admissions Office, all offices are involved in the comprehensive process. SEVP stands for The Student and Exchange Visitor Program, SEVIS stands for Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, and DHS stands for Department of Homeland Security.

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