Implementing Your Strategic Plan—Tactics and Metrics

Creating a strategic plan can be an exciting and transformational moment for your Board and school. The process generates a vision for the future and outlines steps to ensure sustainability and enable the school to thrive.

No matter how carefully crafted, however, there's always a risk that a strategic plan will be put on a shelf and ignored while the day-to-day needs of the school take priority. This webinar will provide a roadmap for Boards and School Heads to design a practical, operational process for accomplishing the strategic plan’s goals.

Constructs That Improve Student Well-Being: Connectedness, Joy, and Mastery

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?

What Does—or Should—Contemporary Independent School Leadership Look Like?

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.

Making Your Meetings Matter—How to Take Your Team to the Next Level

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.

Six Questions to Cultivate Strategic Thinking Within Independent School Boards

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.

Leadership Development for Division Heads

Prioritizing the development of Division Heads’ leadership skills must be an essential area of focus for all School Heads. Although there are situational differences, typically, Division Heads are charged with interfacing with families, managing parent and student concerns, supervising teachers, setting academic objectives, and collaborating closely with other school administrators to ensure the fulfillment of the school’s operational agenda.

The Newest ISM Recommendations for Head Support and Evaluation

School Heads require sound, comprehensive support to ensure they can fulfill their responsibilities.

ISM has long recommended that the Board create a Head Support and Evaluation Committee (HSEC) to do just that—provide strategic support so the Head can focus on tactical school issues.

Unfortunately, many schools get the Head Support and Evaluation Committee wrong—from the individuals involved to the plan they follow to who sits as the Committee Chair.

Succession Planning Strategies: Enhanced Predictability

Hiring and keeping a talented School Head is one of the Board’s major responsibilities. But, frankly, most Boards only allocate time to Head succession when the School Head resigns and the urgent need to find the next leader is forced on them. Boards must understand that Head succession planning is an integral aspect of strategic planning and strategic financial planning. It is an ongoing process that must begin the moment a new School Head is hired.