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We work together with your leaders, teachers, staff members, and students to understand your school’s unique needs, strengths, and challenges. We help you create a plan to help you meet your goals.
Your team can then put these mission-appropriate recommendations into action to achieve increased cash reserves, higher enrollment levels, and long-term stability. At the end of the day, we all have a singular purpose—advance school leadership to enrich the student experience.
We offer personalized consultations for many leadership divisions of a private school—the Board of Trustees, School Heads, the Business Office, the Development Office, Enrollment Management professionals, Marketing professionals, and Academic leaders. Select the area of school leadership you’d like to further explore.

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See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.
Moderation Is Everything: The Health Effects of Juice
Business and Operations // July 17, 2015
Soda was once the Big Bad Wolf of student health reform measures. After all, an estimated 41% of a student’s sugar intake once came solely from liquids, according to the Center for Disease Control—and soda comprised a large portion of those liquids. The sugary, carbonated beverages have now largely disappeared from school vending machines and lunch offerings, but that doesn’t mean sugary drinks are gone completely. Some private-independent schools and public institutions are slowly phasing out juice—even 100% fruit juice with no added sugar—though research is conflicted on whether these sweet substitutes are as unhealthy as soda.
Read MoreAsk ISM's Health Care Reform Specialist
Business and Operations // July 17, 2015
Q: We have employees who are not paid over summer break and who are not actively working with us during that time. If they work on average less than 30 hours per week because of the break, do we have to offer them health insurance?
Read MorePrivate School Students Improve Their Communities
Private School News // July 10, 2015
Private-independent school students inspired their communities during the spring session by giving back to the neighborhoods where they lived. From Ohio to North Carolina, students took the initiative to feed the hungry and celebrate the accomplishments of those others may have ignored—and we’d like to take a moment to celebrate their unsung actions.
Read MoreThree Podcasts for Private-Independent School Administrators
Private School News // July 10, 2015
What’s playing over your headphones lately? Music, or a favorite morning talk show? You could use your spare time as a way to find out what’s going on with your peers and learn new techniques through podcasts! Podcasts are pre-recorded radio shows you can download to your phone, music player, or computer. This month, we’ve found three we think all private-independent school administrators will appreciate.
Read MoreLinkedIn for Administrators, Part One: Spruce Up Your Profile
Private School News // July 10, 2015
Not so long ago, we wrote about why Business Officers should be active on LinkedIn. Then it occurred to us: Every private-independent school administrator should be using LinkedIn, especially since it’s expanded beyond a simple job search site. Today, we’re going to talk about one of the most basic—and most important—aspects to your professional persona on LinkedIn: Your personal profile.
Read MoreThree Podcasts for School Heads
School Heads // July 9, 2015
What’s playing over your headphones lately? Music, or a favorite morning talk show? You could use your spare time as a way to find out what’s going on with your peers and learn new techniques through podcasts! Podcasts are pre-recorded radio shows you can download to your phone, music player, or computer. This month, we’ve found three we think School Heads will appreciate.
Read MoreThree Podcasts for Division Heads
Academic Leadership // July 8, 2015
What’s playing over your headphones lately? Music, or a favorite morning talk show? You could use your spare time as a way to find out what’s going on with your peers and learn new techniques through podcasts! Podcasts are pre-recorded radio shows you can download to your phone, music player, or computer. This month, we’ve found three we think Division Heads will appreciate.
Read MoreCognitive Scientist Says Erasers Are “Instruments of the Devil”
Academic Leadership // July 8, 2015
Encouraging students to be confident in their abilities—even while they make mistakes—must be one of the most herculean feats teachers are asked to accomplish. Some cognitive scientists, however, believe the key to solving this conundrum is to ban the eraser.
Read MoreRedefining Loyalty
Business and Operations // July 7, 2015
When it comes evaluating employees, or, even reenrolling vested families, often loyalty is taken into consideration. The longer their tenure, the more vested they are, the more irreplaceable they are. If an employee stays onboard, he/she must live and breathe the mission and vision of your school, right? If a family reenrolls, they must believe in the culture of your school, right? Not necessarily.
Read MoreAsk ISM’s Risk Manager
Business and Operations // July 7, 2015
Q: We have employees who are not paid over summer break and who are not actively working with us during that time. If they work on average less than 30 hours per week because of the break, do we have to offer them health insurance?
Read More