A longstanding, robust finding from ISM’s interviews with parents and students is that the students themselves have a significant role in decisions about where they enroll and whether they remain at a school. In fact, middle-school students have about 50% of the decision-making power over what school they attend, and that percentage increases as children age into high school.
Finding and hiring faculty and staff are critical responsibilities for school leaders. This process requires a series of essential steps leading to on-campus interviews: create a position description, market the open position in a way that draws a diverse group of excellent candidates, choose interviewees from the applicant pool, and more.
Most schools often assume that individual teachers and academic departments will keep curriculum up-to-date and relevant. However, for many schools (and reasons), other responsibilities take priority and suddenly the school discovers their curriculum is in need of complete revision.
Each private-independent school has a unique voice within its community and in the larger market of schools in its particular region. Each school should represent, promote, and project its mission, values, program, and achievements to build brand awareness and sustain its legacy. Part of the core messaging a Marketing Communications Department must incorporate in its language is how the school enacts its diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging (DEIJB) policies and programmatic initiatives.
More than a quarter of middle and upper school students report being dissatisfied with life. Dissatisfaction is correlated with many outcomes, such as student well-being, interpersonal relationships, physical health, and academic performance. How can your school raise student life satisfaction, and thereby improve overall student well-being?
Nothing affects your students, teachers, programs, facilities, and time as much as your schedule. When you get it right, your schedule can boost student performance, family satisfaction, and faculty culture—leading to better recruitment, stronger retention, and more robust fundraising.
School leadership has never been more daunting than it is today. From political divisions to teacher shortages to concerns about student well-being, School Heads face difficulties that were unimaginable just a decade ago.
Scott Wilson was a successful School Head at three schools over the course of 24 years and is now ISM Executive Leadership Department Head. Join Scott as he offers a fresh perspective, backed by ISM research, to approach these challenges proactively and positively.
As an independent school leader, you facilitate and direct multiple meetings per week. Without intentional planning, however, those gathering times can easily become mundane, failing to reach their full potential.
Discover strategies for cultivating purposeful, productive meetings with achievable objectives. Explore how intentional meetings will enhance your team’s effectiveness and productivity.
When developing your school’s central message framework, it is essential that you clearly identify and promote the qualities and programs that differentiate your school in your marketplace. ISM has long advocated schools use three Purpose and Outcome statements to define themselves: the mission statement to answer the “why?” question, the Portrait of the Graduate to answer the “what?” question, and Characteristics of Professional Excellence to answer the “how?” question.
In the complex landscape of independent schools, strategic thinking often stands as a beacon of success and an indicator of sustainability. The journey toward effective strategic governance, however, is riddled with challenges unique to each school Board.
Join this webinar to discuss six questions to ask that will help you overcome obstacles that inhibit strategic thinking within independent school Boards.