Stay current with the latest private-independent school news.
What are the latest trends impacting private-independent school enrollment? How can you be the most effective in your role as an administrator? How can you help your school meet its mission and best serve your students?
Sign up to receive Community Corner, a free newsletter from ISM.
We cover such topics as how to communicate with your constituencies, work with your fellow school leaders, leverage new technology trends, utilize recommended reading and resources, implement new strategies—all to better serve your school's mission.
Join more than 30,000 private-independent school administrators and have Community Corner delivered right to your inbox.
Search
See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.
Your Essential Duties as a Leadership Team Member
Private School News // September 27, 2018
Being part of your school’s Leadership Team is a valued role, one that serves your students, parents, and broader community. There’s also no denying that it can a stressful job—one where you’re expected to take on various tasks to support the school. Often times, job descriptions don’t exist, or don’t fully outline all the duties you are ultimately responsible for managing.
Read More
Avoid These Four School Website Mistakes
Private School News // September 27, 2018
Your website is your school’s outward reflection of its mission, culture, and of course, its story. This is how your community connects with everything happening on your campus and where they can inquire about enrollment—often one of your primary goals for prospective families. Because your site’s main focus is to capture the hearts of potential families, it’s important that your site doesn’t drive users away after a few seconds.
Read More
Five Benefits Provided by a Quality Summer Program
Private School News // September 27, 2018
A summer program offers numerous benefits to your students, parents, faculty, staff, and community. If you don’t currently provide a summer program, or feel your offerings aren’t as strong as they could be, there are many ways to create a quality summer program that supports your school’s mission.
Read More
How Many Trustees Does It Take?
Board of Trustees // September 25, 2018
As Board President, make sure your Board isn’t “spinning”—from its own or the school community’s perspective—and that you have the right number of Trustees to accomplish your school’s goals.
Read More
Trustee Visibility: Strategies for Seeing and Being Seen
Board of Trustees // September 24, 2018
Trustees are busy people. Many feel that the time given to committee and full-Board meetings satisfies their commitment to the school. However, those who don’t consider visits to campus and attendance at school events a part of Board membership leave out a very important component of their responsibilities.
Read More
The Importance of a Strategic Scheduling Meeting
Academic Leadership // September 20, 2018
Your school’s daily schedule is an incredibly important aspect of how you deliver your mission to students. It defines how long students spend on each subject, with each teacher, and in each classroom. It can enhance academic performance or become a source of stress for students and faculty. That’s why it’s important to hold an annual strategic scheduling meeting to assess what’s working and what isn’t within your school schedule.
Read More
Why You Should Rethink Your Parent Education Program
Academic Leadership // September 20, 2018
Your parent education program aims to engage your students’ families and help them feel like true members of your community. Your school puts hard work into holding events and creating materials, so it can be disappointing if only a small percentage of your families participate on a regular basis.
Read More
Four Strategies That Can Help Turn a Prospect Into a Major Donor
Advancement // September 18, 2018
Many schools focus on cultivating an extraordinary major gifts program. No matter your school size, a successful major gifts strategy requires careful planning, research, and execution.
Read More
Creating a Safe School Environment
Business and Operations // September 11, 2018
Creating a safe school environment for students, faculty, and staff is no simple endeavor in today’s world. Addressing both physical and psychological safety is a complex undertaking and requires care and attention to many facets of school operations.
Read More
A Summer Program Risk Checklist
Business and Operations // September 11, 2018
Summer programs are distinctly different from your school-year offerings—and they propose different risks. The Business Office, along with the Summer Program Director and School Head, will need to consider how to approach your summer program.
Read More