Our schools are filled with strong women who have dedicated their lives to creating safe educational environments where students can learn and grow. But research shows that many women aren’t obtaining leadership positions in K–12 schools across the U.S.

The Buildings and Grounds Committee, charged with protecting the school’s campus and equipment, faces a complex situation if the school’s site is leased or rented. Any recommendations involving renovations, refurbishment, or expense must be approved by the property owner, lease committee, or other entity for which the bottom line may well outweigh the school’s best interests.

The leader of the Board and the leader of your school are partners. One cannot function without the understanding, guidance, and respect of the other. It is, in fact, a marriage of sorts. And, like other marriages, it is subject to ups and downs, honeymoons and divorces. Obviously, the welfare of the school is critically dependent on this successful marriage.

You want to attract mission-appropriate families to your school who become ingrained in your community. The challenge for Admission Officers is that parents and students often want different things from your school—and have different values when it comes to what is important to them.

It’s up to the School Head to create your advisory program, but it’s often left to Division Heads to implement the school’s plan and ensure its continued success. So how do you, as a link between the School Head and your faculty, help teachers become exemplary advisors?

One of your primary duties as an academic leader is to support your faculty and help them connect with their students. However, most seasoned leaders will tell you that perfecting the art of student engagement varies greatly, depending on the students’ ages and your overall school culture.

It’s no longer enough to create content, pop it onto your website, and hope it attracts mission-appropriate students and families to your school. You must have a content strategy in place to create and distribute content effectively. Many teams have created such a strategy but forget an extremely important aspect—measurement and analytics.

You’re no stranger to tight competition when it comes to student enrollment at private-independent schools. While you work diligently to offer admission to mission-appropriate students, they must then decide to enroll at your school over others in the marketplace. One way to encourage enrollment once offers have been extended is to host a preview party. A preview party invites all students to whom you’ve offered entrance to come to campus, meet members of your faculty and staff, and gain a sense of your unique school community.

The School Head and Business Office have a mutual responsibility to protect the school from risk. Two sources of risk for many private-independent schools are human resources and employment practices. Are you sure your current practices are in line with the law? Do you feel sufficiently informed about areas of potential liability? If not, implement the following five-step plan to dramatically reduce your school’s human resources-related risks.

When your School Head announces his or her retirement, it requires careful planning by your Marketing Communications Office.