ISM has always considered socioeconomic diversity to be a practical/tactical proposition. Most schools—either by policy or by inclination—try to provide socioeconomic diversity. In effect, these schools discount tuition to low-income families while increasing tuition for high-income families. However, true diversity also implies cultural diversity with children coming from families who do not share the dominant cultural norms. We now provide a context and ask three questions within which you might consider this issue. This article does not question the usual moral claim for diversity that is both explicitly and implicitly proposed in other venues, but it does ask for more complexity in the conversation.

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ISM has long recommended that the Board conduct an annual midyear review of the Parent Association’s progress in completing the set of tasks comprising its annual agendas. This article provides a recommended midyear audit list.

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As Board President or Chair of the Committee on Trustees (COT), you may ask whether or not ISM has evidence that the length of Board terms is an institutional difference-maker. ISM’s answer is no, but the following observations may be useful.

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Schools continually talk about their schedules. The typical targets are the sense of constant rush, the recognition that incremental annual changes have fragmented the schedule, a desire for more effective teaching time, and an interest in collaboration. It can be a frustrating conversation. It is easy to identify issues that need attention, but difficult to persuade faculty to adopt potential schedule changes. Everyone knows change is necessary, but few want to risk jumping from the frying pan into the fire! ISM has previously stated, “The skill of the School Head will be sorely tested as he/she moves faculty culture from a place of semidependency (“just tell me what to do”) to a place of organic vibrancy that bubbles up creative, critical, and innovative ways to maintain a freshness that continues to enable the school’s mission to be practiced in a hyperchange environment.” Scheduling is a change mechanism, whether moving to a six- or seven-day cycle, rotating classes, lengthening periods, and so on. Typically, this mechanism is intentional in three ways, including:

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Many schools have endowment programs. Even more do not. Whether your school should have an endowment is not an easy question to either formulate or answer in a meaningful way. Schools that have them believe that they are a critical part of their futures. Many school leaders think that endowment has to be a part of their ongoing planning. Clearly, if you have an endowment, it can be an enormous plus for the school’s ability to deliver its mission. But it is not as simple as it seems.

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As School Head, understanding your school’s stage in its ongoing maturation can be helpful in providing you with clear insight as to what is—and is not—possible. The stages outlined here are intended to help provide encouragement for schools early in their growth, praise for those that have reached maturity with excellence, and warning for those in peril of old age.

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ISM published its Student Experience Study (SES) outcomes in January 2012, and published related articles in Ideas & Perspectives throughout that spring. Among the features in the report were a revised Faculty Culture Profile (ISM’s longstanding measure of the quality of a school’s faculty culture) and a revised Student Culture Profile (renamed the Student Experience Profile). The report also included the study’s statistical findings and an instrument for use as part of any school’s approach to faculty evaluation, the Characteristics of Professional Excellence II. Beginning with the spring 2012 data collection period, ISM has published quarterly data summaries of both the Faculty Culture Profile II (FCP II) and the Student Experience Profile II (SEP II). This is the first annual analysis article, one that reviews the previous quarterly data summaries and provides commentary regarding the implications of those summaries.

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Consider this case study drawn from a real example in 2012. A school has positive enrollment and is committed to expanding facilities that reflect the school’s commitment to project-based learning, inquiry, and differentiation. The school is committed to diversity reflected in an admission policy inviting application from a wide range of students with a mix of educational needs. Class sizes are between 20 and 30. The faculty is excellent and has been involved in the facilities planning process from the start. The Board is enthusiastic about the new construction project, as is the parent body. The capital campaign kicks off with apparent success. Before all the money is in the bank, the school begins the building process. Unfortunately, the campaign is not as successful as was anticipated.

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In recent years, partly because of the challenges in our economy and partly because the techniques are so successful, some schools use a capital campaign-style, personalized approach to donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship that has inspired many to give and others to continue to increase their level of giving. ISM now suggests that this become the norm, not just a response to special circumstances. The annual fund is the foundation of your fund-raising efforts. Like all development programs, its impact goes beyond dollars—the ultimate goals are to build relationships and to create a culture of giving in your school. Because the annual fund is broadly based and occurs regularly, it connects your school with the widest possible group of donors in your community. It also helps you identify individuals who later might become primary supporters of your capital, endowment, and major gift programs. A robust annual fund also provides a training ground for volunteers to identify, cultivate, solicit, recognize, and steward donors and prospects.

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Creating a master schedule is challenging enough when you attempt to accommodate the basic demands of people, function, time, and space during the day. Those challenges multiply when you add the following factors to the equation. Faculty who teach in more than one division of the school. The need to create a schedule that is age-appropriate in each division without impacting the schedule of any other division. A single facility—most commonly a gymnasium or lunchroom—that must be shared by all divisions. Groups of students that must move a substantial distance between buildings—or even campuses.

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