Your mission statement must describe the scope and guidance your school needs to define its purpose in a directive, clear, and distinguishing manner.
Chances are that your school has already created a mission statement. But if it fails to distinguish your program from others in the marketplace, consider reevaluation.
Five Ways the School Head Can Work Effectively With the Board
Your role as School Head is to lead by example, inspire enthusiasm among faculty and staff, and ultimately enrich the student experience. The job requires patience, hard work, and dedication.
It also requires thoughtful planning to create and maintain a positive relationship with Board members.
Executive Leadership: The Relationships Between Predictability and Support, the School Head's Well-Being, and Faculty Culture
In the first two articles in this series, we shared the results of our 2016 study on executive leadership, well-being, and school performance. The study validated the centrality of a high-quality, charismatic, and flourishing executive leader in the school’s ability to drive the school’s success, including enrollment demand.2 In this third article, we answer the question, “What predicts high scores on executive leadership?”
Through the first two articles, we established that charismatic (but not excessively extroverted) leaders who guide schools with greater enrollment demand scored higher on our executive leadership measure. Of course, this assumes the school has a strategic plan and a strategic financial plan. In this article, we examine the factors that lead to high scoring on the executive leadership measure (Stability Marker No. 3). In other words, what are the major contributors to being a high-quality leader?
How to Prepare for Your Next Board Meeting
All School Heads face the same dichotomy when it comes to the Board: You are the Board’s sole employee and are expected to receive direction from its members. Yet, you are the person in the school each day.
Board meetings are times when the whole Board comes together. Each meeting is the perfect time to help influence the Board’s operations and demonstrate your skill as a leader. Preparing effectively for each Board meeting is essential.
6 Ways to Use the Characteristics of Professional Excellence
We often refer to the Characteristics of Professional Excellence: A list of specific behaviors, values, and attitudes that every school must create to illustrate how its faculty acts to meet the school’s mission and helps mold its intended graduates.
ISM has developed a broad list of Characteristics of Professional Excellence that includes 35 items we believe should help guide private-independent school educators’ actions and behaviors.
The Head Support and Evaluation Committee: Technicalities
In an earlier article, “The Head Support and Evaluation Committee: An Update,” we stated that “the HSEC, as a Board Committee, is primarily concerned with the Board’s strategic objectives and the Head’s responsibilities in their successful achievement.” Consider now the HSEC’s membership, its charge, and its self-evaluation.
In staffing the HSEC, the Committee on Trustees should consider the School Head’s position as an executive and as the sole employee of the Board. The Head is responsible for all aspects of the school’s operations, from marketing to teaching Social Studies—without a peer in the school. Use the following chart to ensure the appropriate questions have been asked about the HSEC’s membership.
School Is Not an Equal Place
As School Head, you want every student to be successful. Each student and parent likely comes with the assumption that, if mission-appropriate, the child will “win” at the game of school. The school promises to deliver its mission to all students, not just most of them. As we consider how to deliver the mission with excellence to each student, there is a hidden assumption that the classroom is an equal opportunity environment. Exceptional governance practices (including strategic planning and strategic financial planning) and your actions as School Head in leading faculty are key components of sustaining future success.
What to Know About Sharing Salary Information
The School Head is privy to a great deal of private information, including salaries for the entire administration, faculty, and staff. From time to time, you may find that various Board Members inquire about salaries of certain individuals.
Sibling Discounts: Should You Use Them at Your School?
It’s a common question: Should we offer sibling discounts to families who send more than one of their children to our school?
School Emergency and Crisis Response Plan
Dealing with a disaster, natural or otherwise, can be some of the most difficult work you do as a school administrator. You must enact a timely response, working quickly to provide emotional support as needed, establishing a plan to move forward, and keeping open lines of communication with students, parents, faculty, and staff.
Below are suggestions for how your private-independent school can navigate the disaster recovery process, as well as administrative actions and position-specific duties you may want to consider. We hope that you are able to use this advice to get your school up and running as soon as possible, providing a safe haven for your students and a positive place for your community.