It’s summertime! In honor of the season, we want to leave our readers with some healthy tips for enjoying the great outdoors. No matter what region you live in, these green living tips from WebMD will help you stay safe while exploring and relaxing outdoors, save money on your cooling expenses, and make a dent in your carbon footprint.

As spring has turned to summer, we hope that you are enjoying a more leisurely pace—one that permits both renewal and reflection. The relative calmness of summer often allows one to sit back and ponder developments that have occurred in the past year, and to look forward to what might be on the horizon come September. It is in this reflective frame of mind that we would like to share a few thoughts on ways to improve your HR practices once school is back in session in the fall—most particularly, through the use of very brief surveys.

A recent study by Aflac reveals that Americans aren’t prepared for the Health Care Reforms created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As many organizations and companies are choosing consumer-driven health plans, and the responsibility for health decisions requires more patient accountability, workers are being put at risk of making costly mistakes without a financial back-up plan.

As most of you wrap up the school year and get ready for some down time (maybe some professional development with ISM?), we thought you’d might like a little roundup of interesting tips, stories, and products we’ve run across.

Maximizing space doesn’t have to be supported by an annual fund or development campaign. In fact, designing classroom spaces that optimize collaboration as well individual thinking can be done with a no-frills approach.

As you add new Trustees to your Board this summer, make sure that you take steps to build on a successful Board-Head partnership. The following seven procedures are a summary of ISM best practices that enable the Head and Board to work together within a climate of trust and openness.

Another social media giant has emerged and cemented a spot among the Internet hall of famers—Pinterest. For the past two years, we’ve watched as Pinterest evolved from the rumors of fame to climb popularity rungs. As of March 2012, Pinterest became the third largest social network, surpassing LinkedIn and Tagged. This once invitation-only-community has been open to the public for a little over a year, and open to businesses since October 2012. And, its openness has only accelerated its popularity. So, if you haven’t given a second thought to adding another social community to your school’s social media plan, this summer might be the perfect opportunity to investigate a little further.

The school year has ended, summer program is rolling, and the Board needs time to revamp some policies. Where and when is the question! Now is the time to plan and finalize your Board’s annual retreat. It is suitable to hold the retreat at the beginning of the academic year so Board members have new policies in mind and are fresh for the new school year. It gives the returning members a chance to remind themselves about the important business of the Board. It is also a time to continue the orientation of the new members appointed the previous spring.

Students aren’t the only ones who should take advantage of the summer break and dive into a few good books. Blogs across the Web agree it’s the perfect season for both pleasure reading and professional development. Articles have been popping up with suggestions (even Pinterest pages!), so we’ve done a little research and selected a few we think our readers would find most useful for their betterment in the private-independent school world.

Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Health Care Reform Act—heard enough yet? Confused? Join a very large club!