In every independent school, marketing and admissions teams must withstand ever-shifting pressures that make it more difficult to achieve institutional goals and objectives. The Chinese American International School (CAIS), located in the highly competitive San Francisco market, faced the task of growing in an already saturated field. Strategic collaboration was the key to increasing enrollment.

School marketers are increasingly overwhelmed by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). Many aren’t sure how to leverage its potential, misapplying the technology or worrying about losing the personal touch in their messaging. Concerns about AI’s practicality, ethics, and effectiveness often lead to hesitation, creating missed marketing opportunities.

Donors are vital for securing your school’s stability and success, and your relationships with them must be conducted with care and understanding. The ISM Donor Cycle — interpreted for and tailored to private-independent schools — models a strategic approach to moving a donor into a closer relationship with your school.

Is soft or declining enrollment keeping you up at night? Maybe you’re wondering if it’s due to a lack of clarity in your primary marketplace stance, or the quality of your school culture, or the care you give to your students and their families. How can you be sure of what’s causing it?

Join Casey Bell, ISM Consultant, as she presents ISM’s Enrollment Management Framework — a tool to help you discover the issues that most impact your enrollment outcomes. Discover the truth: Factors challenging your enrollment can be fixed, and most “fixes” will cost you nothing!

The wealth profile of a school refers to a comprehensive assessment of the financial capacity and philanthropic potential of its donor base. Through the process of wealth screening, the profile of your school helps you analyze the wealth, giving history, and capacity of current and potential donors.

Join Phil Higgison, ISM Consultant; Herb Soles, ISM Adjunct Consultant; and Jesse Roberts, Unbound Brand General Manager, for an overview of how you can better assess the wealth profile at your school using a combination of public record data, philanthropy databases, and algorithms.

ISM has long posited a relationship between faculty culture and the student experience. And we have been tracking each for the past seven years (2017–2023) — watching trends before, during, and after the pandemic.

Join Bryan Smyth, ISM Senior Consultant and Director of Research, for a reveal of some surprising results! He will also discuss what may happen in and around schools in the near future and help you make informed decisions about prioritizing faculty culture during crises.

Effective communication during a school crisis starts long before a severe problem actually occurs — it's all about planning and preparation. Key to this preparation is identifying common vulnerabilities in school crisis communication strategies and fortifying weak spots.

Managing staff is challenging — it requires determination and effective communication to address poor performance, resolve conflicts, and lead a team effectively. All too often, leaders confuse performance and evaluation conversations for coaching, because they prioritize immediate problems rather than long-term development. Coaching, however, encourages team members to reflect and improve on their goals — and can even lead to a futurist mindset of innovation.