As the Presidential election grows closer, students are hearing a lot about deficit spending, the national debt, and balancing the budget. Now they have a chance to be in the government’s seat and come up with their own solutions.

Historically, evaluation of the Board of Trustees has been either (a) nonexistent or (b) poorly performed with a generic instrument designed for use by any nonprofit entity. If the results were used at all, they formed the basis for a discussion at an annual retreat session, often with little or no action afterward. ISM recommends that the responsibility for Board evaluation at a private-independent school be lodged with the Committee on Trustees.

Both ISM and CASE offer a plethora of information, strategies, and resources for private-independent schools. Some materials are free (e-letters, e-lists, PDFs, etc.), while other materials are free for members, like ISM Consortium Gold members.

Holidays are a great time to practice green options. From decorations to ghoulish night alternatives, there are thousands of creative green options available. Here are a few we found online.

E-mail has become the preferred form of communication for many people. You get messages and take action on your own time. It’s true that chockfull inboxes can be unwieldy, and messages can get lost or deleted. And, let’s not forget the scourge of spam, too. However, receiving an e-mail from a recognized source—like your school—puts the information in writing that the reader can easily respond to 24 hours a day.

A large shipment of toner shows up at your school. Scratching your head, you try to remember the last time you placed an order. Did you order this much toner? Was it that afternoon you were fighting off a nasty head cold?

One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Because of its wide reach, women need to be aware of their risks and the signs of the disease for early detection. As part of your wellness program, share the following information with your faculty and staff in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

From the beginning, the apple of Apple’s eye was the education market when the first Apple IIs started blanketing school computer rooms. And now, the iPad is the “standard” in the classroom. In July, edweek.com reported that schools bought 1 million iPads in the second quarter of 2012, outselling Macs 2 to 1. It’s the powerhouse of the education market, as more and more schools see tablets as a replacement for textbooks and netbooks. They can be more cost-effective than constantly purchasing new textbooks. Plus, they are user-friendly and have the "cool" factor that a textbook doesn't.

Bullying is a serious issue for many schools, affecting 11% of all students. According to the PACER Center, 160,000 U.S. students stay home from school each day due to fear of being bullied. However, there is hope on the horizon.

In an era when most schools are scrambling to find funding for technology and teachers are worried they will be replaced by digital options, one school is refusing to compute—and it’s in the heart of Silicon Valley.