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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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Top Ten Division Head Articles of 2014
Academic Leadership // January 16, 2015
Over the past year, we’ve written about everything from professional development (both useless and useful) to the importance of recess—and we’ll be sure to cover more hot topics in the year to come. Before we move on, though, let's look back to the top-read articles in the Division Head e-Letter over the past year.
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Ringing in 2015 With New Winter Health Risks
Business and Operations // January 14, 2015
There’s no denying that winter has arrived. Even stereotypically warm locations such as Nevada, Arizona, and most of Texas have experienced arctic air and snow this season. Northern states have already embraced temperatures well below zero! Cold temperatures can lead to several life-threatening risks such as heart attack and hypothermia, as well as several non-lethal yet serious health concerns such as frostbite, depression, increased exposure to the flu and colds, and a trigger for asthma—just to mention a few of the most common. Colder weather also means more time spent indoors, which could expose you to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, a potentially poisonous gas that causes more than 20,000 emergency room visits each year and nearly 450 annual deaths.
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Tanning and Skin Cancer: "Just What Teens Do"
Business and Operations // January 14, 2015
Winter in the U.S. is often associated with reduced exposure to the sun, which means no tan. With class proms and pageants on their minds, teenagers find this time of year irritating. After all, nothing puts the finishing touch on that perfect gown or tuxedo like a tan. And, with tanning salons still peppering shopping malls across the nation in spite of research linking them to melanoma, it’s easy enough to put fear aside, duck inside for ten minutes, and come out looking as though you’ve spent a day in southern Florida. But, tans aren’t the only thing teens acquire in tanning beds. The need to look beautiful during the winter months is what researchers are blaming for an increased presence of skin cancer in young adults and teens.
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Ask ISM's Risk Manager
Business and Operations // January 14, 2015
Q: We need to terminate an employee. Understandably, this is a common element of running a school, but I feel as though our past practices haven’t been very HR friendly. What do you recommend as the best way—the "HRiest" way—of letting an employee go?
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Withholding Information on Marketing Materials: Advantages and Disadvantages
Advancement // January 12, 2015
As an Admission Officer, your mission is to form relationships with prospective families, which you can't do until they first contact your school. One of the ways in which you can entice families to call the office is to exclude important information from print materials and the website. This technique can certainly work, but some schools believe in a policy of transparency, maintaining that building trust with future parents is more important than providing an excuse for the initial contact. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to withholding information from marketing materials, so let’s break down some of the nitty-gritty details.
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Top Ten Admission Articles of 2014
Advancement // January 12, 2015
Over the past year, we’ve written about everything from perpetual enrollment to the contents of your school’s welcome packet—and we’ll be sure to cover more hot topics in the year to come. Before we move on, though, let's look back to the top-read articles in the Admission e-Letter over the past year.
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Three Research-Based Ways to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
Private School News // January 8, 2015
New Year’s resolutions are popular to make, but difficult to keep. After all, you wouldn’t have to dedicate yourself to the formation of a new habit if it were easy—you’d already be doing it! But it is possible to keep your commitments this year, if you follow the conclusions found by researchers looking to discover the panacea for personal behavior modification.
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Throwback Thursday: Top Ten Articles of 2014
Private School News // January 8, 2015
The start of a new year is a time of reflection. In Private School News, we’ve written about everything from tuition remission to communicating with your IT department—and we’ll be sure to cover more hot topics in the year to come. Before we move on, though, let’s look back to articles from our top-read e-Letters in 2014.
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Nightcaps and Rants
Private School News // January 8, 2015
Drinking and driving is illegal, but drinking and emailing is not. Even if perfectly legal, the mix of impaired judgment and instant communication isn't one we'd recommend. According to a new study, though, there’s more than a few parents out there who do just that to their private school’s teachers and administrators.
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Are You Compliant? Affordable Care Act Requirements for 2015
Business and Operations // January 6, 2015
Now that you've returned from a well-deserved winter break, you must ensure your school is ready for the 2015 requirements as outlined in the Affordable Care Act.
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