Community Corner
Community Corner

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?

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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. 

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See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.

Schools Create Videos for Fundraising and Engagement Campaigns

Fundraising // October 26, 2023

Creating content to inspire donations is a challenging feat for private school fundraisers. Donors want to know their contributions make a difference—they need to see a tangible impact on the school where their children invest their time. Conveying inspirational content with written messaging isn’t ...

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Key Elements of a Successful Campaign Plan

Advancement // October 26, 2023

For every school, the right preparation ensures a campaign's success. A campaign plan lays out the design and proposed steps for implementation: identify your prospects; engage your constituents; and solicit, recognize, and steward your donors. Your plan illustrates what the campaign will look like from establishing goals to achieving results.

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ChatGPT: Friend or Foe?

School Leadership // September 14, 2023

On December 5, 2000, the Daily Mail newspaper ran a headline that seems humorous today: “Internet ‘may be just a passing fad as millions give up on it’.” This headline is humorous because it was so wrong even at the time it was published—the internet had between approximately 400 million users by 20...

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Data Informed Decision Making with ISM’s Newest Offering: Unbound360

School Leadership // September 14, 2023

When used effectively, publicly available data can give your school valuable insight to help develop private school marketing and enrollment strategies and optimize fundraising efforts. Government sources, census reports, and other community data can include beneficial demographic information, in...

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Here’s Why Your School Needs a SWOT Analysis and How to Conduct One

School Leadership // September 14, 2023

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) is a tool to evaluate your school, assess your current situation, and develop strategies for improvement. SWOT analyses are popular in the business world and are common in private school marketing. Why might your school want to conduct a SW...

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Developing Policies to Balance Discipline and Support for Student Substance Use

School Health and Wellness // September 12, 2023

Substance use—now the appropriate term for what was once called substance abuse—often stems from underlying issues like anxiety, depression, trauma, or social isolation. Early intervention at home and at school can circumvent potential problems before they escalate. But addressing underlying issu...

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The Importance of Surveying Constituents

School Leadership // August 31, 2023

“A school’s most important asset is the data it possesses. Data helps you make better and smarter decisions …. Every school and business is a data organization,” said Jesse Roberts, Brand General Manager for Unbound360—an innovative software platform from ISM that identifies new prospects and delive...

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D.A.R.E.? Get REAL!

School Health and Wellness // August 31, 2023

Keepin’ it REAL Program Teaches Students to Refuse, Explain, Avoid, and Leave For more than a decade, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program—D.A.R.E.—was the go-to curriculum for educators looking to work toward drug abuse prevention in schools. While the success of D.A.R.E. has not been ful...

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Understanding Classroom Anxiety and Practical Strategies to Help

School Health and Wellness // August 31, 2023

As an educator, it's important to understand student mental health. To learn and grow, students need to feel safe and valued, both in the classroom and outside it. Some of the most common student mental health conditions are stress and anxiety. And most people experience stress and anxiety at some p...

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Stuffed Backpacks: How Much Weight Is Too Much

School Leadership // August 31, 2023

An exciting part of back-to-school time is shopping for new supplies: pencils, notebooks, binders, calculators, stainless steel water bottles, and laptops. And even in a digital age, students still carry overloaded bags. Students are also lugging around textbooks. Research from the Brookings Institu...

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