When you, as School Head, set and announce tuitions, you fear parents will protest any increase. Reduce your concerns by planning carefully and developing a solid “case,” focusing on the student benefits garnered from the school’s financial stability. When you are confident about the strategic plan you and the Board have for the future—and when you understand the way parents think about your school—you can reinforce the value they receive for their tuition “investment.” (ISM’s research demonstrates that parents don't question the tuition for school experiences that provide value.)

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As an advancement professional, there’s little doubt that, at some point, you’ve looked at your ever-growing to-do list and wondered, “Where do I even begin?”

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A strong college counseling program is essential for any private-independent school’s upper division. In the minds of most parents, your upper school must provide college preparation (and more). They expect help with college placement to ensure college success—and this is often a chief determinant for families looking to enroll their children in your school. Developing close ties with college contacts is an integral part of your bottom line. Because college admission staffs often have high turnover rates, this is an ongoing process.

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As a Trustee, School Head, or Chief Financial Officer, you know that a decision to hold tuition flat for a year or more results in lost ground and places pressure on future budgets. Inflation depletes your real income and your school can lapse into insolvency.

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Maintaining a properly focused Parent Association is difficult—but it is well worth the effort for enhancing strong parent relations and providing powerful marketing tools for your school. Here are potential problems and issues to consider.

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Operating an attractive, effective, and profitable summer program requires the year-round attention of the Summer Program Director. During the summer, the Director needs considerable administrative support as he or she works full-time, focusing on day-to-day administrative tasks—in short, reacting to the immediate. During the academic year, the need for administrative support becomes more intermittent as the Director works part time to plan and prepare for the coming summer’s programmatic excellence and financial success.

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Rod Snelling made a difference in the world through his devotion to private-independent school education. His leadership at Independent School Management will be sorely missed. He pioneered innovative concepts that led to the founding of our company, the first analysis firm in the United States dealing exclusively with private-independent schools. Since ISM’s inception, thousands of administrators and schools in North America and abroad have benefited from his theory, research, and analysis.

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Fundraising would be easy if you only had to “follow the money”—acquire an online list of wealthy area residents and assign volunteers to call them. However, the heart of successful fundraising lies in building relationships. Your responsibility is not to “sell” prospects on contributing to a specific school program or project. Understand your donors’ values and interests, and then show them how their commitments connect with your school and its mission.

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It is a distressing and growing issue that private-independent school students are showing increasing levels of stress, substance use, risky behavior, and anxiety. Recommended strategies for mitigating stress and managing mental health, while improving student well-being, include enactment of a healthy daily schedule and yearly calendar, and a predictable and supportive faculty culture, with effective advisory and counseling programs. Recent ISM research with nearly 13,000 students in private-independent middle and upper schools demonstrates that increased student engagement must be added to that list.

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ISM has encouraged schools to recognize the benefits a robust, mission-based advisory program can yield for students, faculty, and the institution. We encourage you, as School Head or Division Head, to focus on creating and sustaining a professional guidance program contributing to a predictable and supportive experience for all middle- and upper-school students through a principled assignment of personnel to the advisor role.

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