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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.
Training to Lead
Academic Leadership // September 24, 2012
Here’s a question for you: Why did you become a Division Head? You probably have a mix of reasons—maybe you just enjoy leadership activities, or you wanted a new challenge, or you wanted the chance to impact a larger number of students, or you wanted a better salary, and so on and so on.
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Crisis Planning–It’s Your Job
Business and Operations // September 24, 2012
We have written on this topic before, but continue to see it as one of the biggest risks schools face today—the absence of serious crisis planning. At a time when the amount of and types of risks are increasing (e.g., cyberbullying, cyber-risk, issues of facility safety, discrimination suits, etc.), it is critical that schools take crisis planning seriously, and plan for a variety of risks.
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Delegation = Trust
Business and Operations // September 20, 2012
A recent episode of The Food Network show “Restaurant Impossible,” reaffirmed an important lesson about managing: employees want their bosses to trust them, and there’s nothing like delegation to show trust. Conversely, when trust isn’t present, it can crush an employee’s spirit … and his/her performance right along with it.
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Do You Have a Trusting Culture?
Business and Operations // September 20, 2012
ISM has long written about the key role that healthy faculty cultures play in the long-term success of a school. One aspect of faculty cultures that administrators need to examine is the level of trust between teachers and administrators, as well as trust among all teachers. One simple but powerful way of assessing the state of your culture regarding trust issues is by using a continuum chart, which we’ve drawn in informal fashion below.
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Ask Michael
Business and Operations // September 20, 2012
Q: We have a number of faculty members who have been advocating for us to move to a merit-pay program. The Board is also encouraging us to move quickly in that direction. How long does it take to implement a merit-pay system effectively?
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Board Support of the School Head’s Personnel Decisions
Board of Trustees // September 18, 2012
All too frequently, the Board urges the School Head to root out weakness and develop an “ideal” faculty, and then drifts away when the Head makes a difficult, unpopular, but necessary decision. Without Board support, the Head fights a lonely battle.
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Surveys: What You Really Know Makes You Stronger
School Heads // September 17, 2012
What you hear through your school’s “whisper down the lane” network may give you an incomplete, exaggerated, or just plain inaccurate picture of what the school community is thinking. While murmurings may tip you off to a potential problem, need, or strength, the opinions of the loudest parents are not necessarily shared by the majority.
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A Conversation About Financial Aid, the Second Biggest Budget Item
School Heads // September 17, 2012
When was the last time you looked at the Financial Aid line on your budget? I mean, really looked. Financial Aid seems like a stepchild in school finance circles— too big to ignore, and yet, because its inner workings are carried on behind closed doors to protect the identity of families, never really brought out into the light of day and really talked about. And it IS too big to ignore.
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Thinking About Your School Benefits
Business and Operations // September 11, 2012
The last thing on your mind as the school year kicks into high gear is your benefits package. Your contracts are signed, excitement is at its peak, and all systems are go. However, now is one of the best times to start thinking about your employee benefits and perhaps consider a change.
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Debating Dairy in School Lunches
Business and Operations // September 7, 2012
School lunches are once again a topic of discussion. Beyond the vending machine arguments, the sugar wars, and the heated debates about healthier lunch options is a new motion—milk cartons. An anti-cheese group claims that the real culprit for childhood weight worries is the standard serving of milk that is traditionally offered with school lunches.
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