Aftershocks: Dealing With Trauma in the Classroom

Academic Leadership // April 14, 2015

For Bostonians, justice was served on April 8th, 2015, when a federal jury declared Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty on 30 charges related to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The sentencing reminds many communities of that spring day two years ago, when three spectators were killed and dozens injured when a homemade pressure bomb exploded in the crowd in what some call the “worst terror attack on American soil since 9/11.” But for the local town of Waterford, Massachusetts, it's not the bombing itself they remember with dread, but the intense manhunt that ensued for the suspected bombers. For the students in this community, the task wasn’t to treat the trauma of seeing limbs and bodies scattered on an asphalt road. Rather, the trauma lay in a new world perspective—a world that could become dangerous even during the most innocent of events.

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Online Donation? Snail Mail a Thank-You!

Advancement // April 13, 2015

Seems a little counterintuitive, doesn’t it? After all, the donor made the gift online, and it stands to reason that he or she would be comfortable continuing to communicate screen-to-screen rather than face-to-face. Often, your online donation program generates a thank-you email the instant the payment clears, seemingly making additional need for contact obsolete. But wait a second! Let’s consider what the goal is (or should be) with this new donor. You want to build a relationship with this person. Now that the ball’s in your court, you have an opportunity here to strengthen the tenuous initial connection with a little effort, attention, and the lick of a stamp.

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The Hidden Costs of Fundraising Events

Advancement // April 13, 2015

When you're trying to raise money for school programs and upgrades, it's important to keep resources funneled to where they can do the most good. Consider large fundraising events like golf tournaments, live auctions, and banquets. While these events certainly can—and do!—raise a lot of money toward a school’s capital campaign or annual fund, hidden costs lurk among your guests.

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Newsletters: Important for Prospective, Current, and Past Parents

Advancement // April 10, 2015

Your school newsletter offers past, present, and prospective parents—all subscribers, in fact—a chance to be part of the day-to-day school life, even though they’re not in the classrooms on a daily basis. Each segment of your potential audience values your newsletter in a different way. By knowing your audience’s various interests, you can leverage your newsletter to your school’s greatest advantage.

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Ask ISM's Health Care Reform Specialist

Business and Operations // April 2, 2015

Q: I have been reviewing the employer reporting form and have a couple of questions about Form 1095-C line 14. Does Code 1A mean that $1,108.65 is the most that an employee can contribute to the cost of his/her premium payment for the year to comply with the regulations for a minimum value plan? It currently looks like each of our employees pays $1,188 of his/her premium which would be $79 over the limit to qualify for the minimum value plan right?

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Unmask Impostors and Avoid Fraud

Business and Operations // April 2, 2015

While the Internal Revenue Service battle impostors this tax season as fraudsters prey on panicked, ill-informed victims, fraud happens all year round. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) named impostor scams as the third most common consumer complaint in 2014. Even schools are targets for such scams, as our Business Officer e-List reported this month. Apparently, a spate of emails impersonating School Heads to lower-level Business Office employees requesting wire transfers. With a little common sense and basic protocols, these schools avoided potentially costly and untraceable mistakes—and so can yours.

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How to Correct Someone Without Provoking Fireworks

Business and Operations // April 2, 2015

Think back to a time when a colleague has made a suggestion or a statement that you were certain was completely inaccurate and would derail a conversation, project, or meeting. You knew that, if left uncorrected, the process will become confused and muddled. At the same time, if you simply said, "Jesse, you're wrong," it would cause sparks to fly. So today, we'll talk about how you can correct someone without a fireworks-worthy display of temper.

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“Race-Congruent” Teachers May Help Boost Student Scores

Private School News // March 31, 2015

There’s a copious amount of research on the effect role models have on developing minds, but a new study raises the bar for what kind of role models might be most effective in the classroom. Researchers from the University of Arkansas, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and Harvard University have joined forces to discover that students may perform better on exams if their role models—their teachers—are of the same ethnicity.

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Rooting Out Nervousness

Private School News // March 31, 2015

Nerves show up when we least need them. Presentations, conversations with parents, meetings with donors—nervousness kills confidence and interrupts the flow of rational thoughts. The next time you feel anxiety popping up, beat it back with these tips.

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Maasai Warriors, Live Poetry, and The Pursuit of Ignorance: TED Talks Truths and Dares

Private School News // March 31, 2015

(Primary image credit to GP3/The Every Day Athlete News) For anyone wondering what the online fuss was about in the middle of March, the 2015 TED weeklong conference convened in Toronto, Canada. Billed as a "platform for ideas worth sharing" and known for its inspiring 15-minute "talks" circulated on YouTube, TED's theme this year was “Truth and Dare.” For those unable to enjoy the talks in person, we’ve created a playlist of TED talks on education that speak occasionally harsh truths while daring our schools and our society to transcend the current, self-imposed boundaries.

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