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What are the latest trends impacting private-independent school enrollment? How can you be the most effective in your role as an administrator? How can you help your school meet its mission and best serve your students?
Check out Community Corner, a free blog from ISM.
We cover such topics as how to communicate with your constituencies, work with your fellow school leaders, leverage new technology trends, utilize recommended reading and resources, implement new strategies—all to better serve your school's mission.
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See articles for School Heads, Business & Operations, Advancement, Academic Leadership, and Trustees, in addition to Private School News.
Put Some Fun Into Philanthropy
Advancement // April 18, 2013
Peter Sagal, best known as the host of NPR’s very popular game show Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me!, says that “giving, altruism, is a pleasure, but it can be fun. But it also can not be fun. You have to find a way to let people enjoy, access the enjoyment of giving.”
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Your Bad Social Media Habits
Advancement // April 17, 2013
Remember a time before computers when all your papers had to be typed or handwritten? Remember how important is was then to have excellent grammar and penmanship? Those rules seem to have been forgotten, or at least forgiven, since social media and the urgency to communicate quickly and often have come into effect. Not really though. Readers are impressed with well-written, well thought-out messages.
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Getting Your Viral Party Started
Advancement // April 17, 2013
We’ve recently written a lot about the power of viral marketing. It is the easiest and most effective tool your school has for spreading its mission and attracting interest. All marketers agree, viral advertising is the oldest and most impressive form of communication. But just how do you get your school’s viral marketing party started?
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Integrated Learning Goals
Business and Operations // April 16, 2013
The education world has been transforming since the mid-1990s as technology came to play larger roles in the lives of us all. Learning happens from watching videos, reading articles, searching and sorting through results, playing games—and all of these learning activities can take place virtually any where. Mobile smart devices have helped change the way we manage and intercept information. For the better part of our days, we’re receiving and transmitting messages almost subconsciously; we’re always learning.
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Five Classic Termination Mistakes
Business and Operations // April 16, 2013
Letting someone go is never an easy task. Employees may become violent, defensive, or extremely emotional. If you have a strong working relationship with the person you must terminate, it can be difficult for you. As emotionally complicated as firing someone is, it can also quickly become a legal disaster if not handled properly.
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Green Corner: Making Your Own Green Cleaner
Business and Operations // April 16, 2013
Using harsh chemicals around children, especially young children, can be harmful to their health. But you don’t have to run to the local organic store or shop online for organic solutions. Your Facilities Manager can mix her own cleaning solutions with items you most likely already have stored in your school’s closets.
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Life After Newtown
School Heads // April 9, 2013
The mass shooting at Newtown Elementary School in Connecticut back in December, resulting in the death of 20 young children and six adults, fanned the flames of the gun control/second amendment rights debate nationwide. You more than likely took another look at your school’s safety policies and precautions—especially since ISM research has shown that keeping their children in a safe haven is the top reason parents choose private schools.
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Hangout: How to Build Ties to Young Donors
Advancement // March 29, 2013
Millennials—young people born between 1979 and 1993—are likely part of your alumni base. Derrick Feldman and Kari Dunn Saratovsky, in their new book Cause for Change: The Why and How of Nonprofit Millennial Engagement, share what their research shows are the keys to attracting those young donors and volunteers. The alumni/ae of your school are often a great untapped source of support, and young alumni have the freshest memories of their experience as your students.
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Cybertools for Easy Communication
Advancement // March 29, 2013
Recently in ISM’s e-list for Admission Directors, one director wondered if anyone had used Eventbrite.com to promote open houses. Others offered up a recommendation for Paperlesspost.com. Both of these are online-only tools for greetings, notes, and invitations—communications that traditionally involved paper and postage. On one hand, communicating in cyberspace is cheap (mostly free), instant, and can be managed 24/7. On the downside, it may seem sterile, get lost as spam, and … can be managed 24/7. (If you can do your work round the clock, will you give yourself permission not to?)
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Ask the Expert
Advancement // March 29, 2013
Q: “Should a Development Director’s salary be based on a percentage of funds raised?”
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