So, how can teachers communicate with parents in a way that keeps them informed and engaged with their child’s education? How can teachers best satisfy parents’ expectations? ISM recommends that touch points between teachers and parents be personal and spontaneous. This is even more important now while students are learning from home and parents have become even more involved in their children’s education.

The COVID-19 crisis has presented a unique opportunity for development professionals to do the critical groundwork in identifying those prospects whose capacity and inclination can make an impact on current and future fundraising projects.

The full impact of COVID-19 is yet to be determined, but many schools are prepared for the worst. Some are anticipating a fiscal loss. Such projections can trigger a knee-jerk reaction to cut the budget, so preparation is key.

We recently hosted a Q&A on the CARES stimulus package and what it means for private schools. Today we're sharing the highlights.

During this rapidly unfolding crisis, it's critical that development staff remain calm and focused on what development professionals and volunteers do best: building and sustaining relationships with donors and prospects.

COVID-19 has disrupted the traditional school year and creates numerous questions concerning tuition payments. ISM makes the following recommendations concerning tuition for the 2019–2020 year.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to impact us all. There are many questions about the right things to do, especially when it comes to marketing your school. We’ve compiled a list of suggestions. Some of these involve working with prospective families, others about uniting your current ones—all with the goal of strengthening your school community as a whole.

We’ve highlighted how vital your school’s mission statement is to the culture and decision-making processes in your school. But there’s also another mission statement—the de facto mission statement. The de facto mission comprises well-understood—but rarely codified or written—sets of principles or practices observed throughout the school. If the de facto mission statement exists, it’s often because the institutional mission statement may have become a poor match with actual practice.

For most private-independent schools, the COVID-19 crisis hit in the middle of re-enrollment season. And while many schools have reported to ISM that their retention rate is strong despite the pandemic, still others tell us that the rate of return on their re-enrollment contracts is alarmingly low. Whether you feel cautiously optimistic or deeply concerned about your school’s current retention picture, ISM offers these tips to improve your re-enrollment outlook for the 2020–21 school year.

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) into law. This bill is a $2 trillion economic stimulus law intended to provide immediate relief for individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and state and local governments. Below is our current understanding of what this law means for independent schools.