Virtual & Onsite Consulting Services

Onsite Consulting
Onsite Consulting

Ensure that your school’s governance and operations support your mission.

We work together with your leaders, teachers, staff members, and students to understand your school’s unique needs, strengths, and challenges. We help you create a plan to help you meet your goals.

Your team can then put these mission-appropriate recommendations into action to achieve increased cash reserves, higher enrollment levels, and long-term stability. At the end of the day, we all have a singular purpose—advance school leadership to enrich the student experience.

We offer personalized consultations for many leadership divisions of a private school—the Board of Trustees, School Heads, the Business Office, the Development Office, Enrollment Management professionals, Marketing professionals, and Academic leaders. Select the area of school leadership you’d like to further explore.

 

Our Consulting Services

School Head

Whether you want to ensure that all school functions run at peak efficiency or are considering implementing new strategies and initiatives, lean on a trusted source of knowledge to increase the likelihood of long-term success.

Business & Operations

Take advantage of a full range of planning, facilities, and operations consulting services that give your school a solid footing for the future. Examine where your key operations work well, and where they can use improvement.

Academic Leadership

Your programs set your school apart. Explore how to create and build programs that pull families in and give them an experience they couldn’t have at another private-independent school.

Admission & Enrollment Management

ISM’s data-informed approach pinpoints what attracts families to your school and inspires them to stay. Receive customized solutions based on your school’s unique marketplace stance, challenges, and opportunities.

Fundraising & Development

Learn how to develop successful strategies to engage and bring donors closer to your institution. No matter your school size, history, or pedagogy, explore how to plan, implement, and evaluate your fundraising strategies to realize your full potential.

Marketing Communications

Explore how to share exceptional stories of student learning, engagement, and outcomes, and illustrate how these can become differentiators that distinguish your school from your competitors.

Board of Trustees

The Board must focus its efforts on governing, planning, and financing your school's future, while leaving everyday decisions to competent administrators. To do that successfully, your Board must think, plan, and act strategically.

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See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.

Ensure Your School Takes Care of Your Teachers

Academic Leadership // May 17, 2020

As student education continues through distance learning, it is important to consider the enormous responsibilities that fall to your teachers. Your teachers work hard and are the most visible, tangible demonstration of your program’s value to parents during this time. Here’s what you should do to take care of them.

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Will COVID-19 Change the Face of Education?

School Heads // May 10, 2020

As schools have made a quick flip to distance learning, will this have a lasting impact on the education system as a whole? The reality is that it is too early to tell. However, School Heads should be proactive right now.

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School Facilities Maintenance in Light of COVID-19

Business and Operations // May 10, 2020

As the 2019–2020 school year closes, many leaders are asking questions about reopening in the fall. There is much to consider. We recommend following this three-prong approach when considering reopening your school.

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How to Communicate Effectively With Parents Right Now

Enrollment Management // May 3, 2020

Parents’ perceptions of your school’s offerings remain one of the most important aspects that influence their enrollment and re-enrollment decisions. Now, perhaps more than ever, parents are experiencing—firsthand—how your school operates each and every day.

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Evaluate Your Prospects So You Are Ready to ACT

Fundraising // May 3, 2020

Before you can solicit donors and prospects, you should first evaluate them to confirm their ability to give, commitment to your school and the project, and track record of giving. When you have determined if your prospect meets the ACT criteria, you will be ready to solicit them with confidence.

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Managing the Impact of a Reduction in Force on Remaining Employees

School Heads // April 26, 2020

One of the most difficult responsibilities for a School Head is making staffing decisions, particularly when nonrenewals or reductions in force are necessary. As many schools look to the long-term impact of COVID-19, this unfortunate task might be something your team is considering.

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How Your School Should Respond to the Legal Repercussions of COVID-19

Business and Operations // April 26, 2020

We recently hosted a webinar with three legal experts from Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy, P.C., to answer your questions about how to handle loans, layoffs, and landlords during the COVID-19 crisis. While there are no simple answers for what we’re experiencing, we want to share insights from the webinar with you here.

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