Mission-based advisory is the front line of guidance and the center of a school’s leadership programs. It accomplishes those objectives through the recruitment of faculty who see advisory as a crucial element of their teaching practice, whether in middle or upper schools.1 Teaching, to these faculty, is holistic and encompasses the wider framing of a student’s success or failure. For optimal success, each student must experience a predictable and supportive environment in which at least one teacher truly knows and appreciates him/her, can act as an advocate in both good and bad situations, and is a crucial communications link between the school and the parent.

ISM published its Student Experience Study (SES) outcomes in January 2012, and published related articles in Ideas & Perspectives throughout the spring. Among the features in the report were a revised Faculty Culture Profile—ISM’s long-standing measure of the quality of a school’s faculty culture—and a revised Student Culture Profile, along with the study’s statistical findings and an instrument for use as part of any school’s approach to faculty evaluation, the Characteristics of Professional Excellence II.

Many private-independent schools encourage students of all ages to become involved in community service—an ongoing, schoolwide program of service to others. These schools may also specify that students complete a prescribed number of hours as a graduation requirement. These service programs are designed to broaden students’ sense of social awareness by exposing them to the “real world” and to instill in these young people a lifelong commitment to caring for and about others. In addition, a school should offer service learning—those components of the school’s curriculum that support and complement the community service efforts.

As Summer Program Director, you’ve spent time since last summer’s program to reconsider the design and curriculum for this summer’s sessions. You may not, however, have looked at risk management specifically from the perspective of your program. Or perhaps you noticed some safety issues last year that must be addressed. The safety and care of your students is a priority—and is also essential in our litigious society.

While many schools expend significant effort to manage student records appropriately, they often pay less attention to handling employee records properly. In an increasingly litigious and regulated operating environment, schools must attend to employee records in a consistent and prudent fashion. This article provides record-keeping recommendations for each employee-related process, and describes how to maintain various files and records for the protection of the school and employees.