5 Ways to Attract Homeschool Students

Advancement // September 14, 2016

Homeschooling is increasingly becoming a viable option for parents looking for alternatives to traditional classroom learning. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), for example, showed a 54% increase in the practice from 2002 to 2012 (1), and stories like the wunderkind twelve-year-olds starting their engineering degrees at Cornell University (2) inspire other families looking to nurture their gifted children. However, rather than looking at homeschooling programs as competition for your private school, look to them as you would any other “feeder school”—as an opportunity to expand the pool of prospective students. This month, let’s discuss the ways in which you can leverage the unique opportunity of homeschooled students.

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A Pokémon Go Primer for Private Schools

Private School News // August 2, 2016

If you’ve noticed more people than usual roaming your neighborhood, noses glued to their phone screens, then you’ve already encountered this summer’s biggest gaming hit: Pokémon Go. Popular with adult gamers and school-aged children alike, the game presents both opportunities and concerns for school administrators. So this month, we’ll talk about what Pokémon Go actually is, potential dangers for your students—and possible ways to leverage the game’s popularity to benefit your school.

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Do Cafeterias Interfere With Financial Aid? —A Look at School Priorities

Private School News // August 2, 2016

There’s been some amusing hubbub in the education world this summer regarding financial aid and fiscal priorities. Popular educational writer Malcolm Gladwell proposed an odd correlation on his podcast, Revisionist History: The greater a college’s investment in quality food, the lower its commitment to socioeconomically diverse student populations in the form of financial aid. This debate in higher education can be reframed for K-12 private-independent schools, in that your school’s investment in various programmatic aspects should reflect its mission, not the latest fads.

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Seven Academic Buzzwords to Define in 2016-2017

Private School News // August 2, 2016

Remember when all educators could talk about were MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)? While they’re still around and useful for the modern classroom, new educational trends and vernacular have entered common parlance in efforts to make curriculums and philosophies sound appealing, stealing some MOOC thunder. Before you start trying to integrate every great new idea Google throws your way, remember that buzzwords must be carefully defined if used by you and your fellow administrators. Otherwise, you risk compromising your projects due to proverbial crossed wires. This month, we’ve collected some of the most popular buzzwords that educators can expect to hear in the coming school year—along with their actual definitions given by leading experts.

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2016 Shows A Dip in Wellness Benefits

Business and Operations // July 12, 2016

Over the last decade, there has been an upward trend for employers to incorporate wellness programs into their employee incentive and benefit portfolios. Such benefits have been considered tools, helping to reduce health insurance costs and paid sick time as well as boost overall employee morale. However, a new study shows that companies are starting to move in the other direction concerning wellness benefits—cancelling incentives due to a perceived lack of ROI and participation. Can it be that the wellness bubble has popped?

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Oh Look, More Acronyms to Memorize! SEVIS, SEVP, and DHS

Business and Operations // July 12, 2016

If your school has an international student program or is considering one, you might be well aware of the acronyms SEVIS, SEVP, and DHS. For those not familiar with the acronyms, as you might have guessed, they relate to the nitty-gritty, compliance side of international student programs. These acronyms need to be universally understood throughout your Business, Admission, and School Head’s offices. Although the enrollment process may start and conclude in the Admissions Office, all offices are involved in the comprehensive process. SEVP stands for The Student and Exchange Visitor Program, SEVIS stands for Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, and DHS stands for Department of Homeland Security.

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Teach the Teachers: Four Flexible Professional Development Ideas for Summer

Academic Leadership // July 7, 2016

Professional development for teachers is often scheduled at this time of year, with the idea that since class is out, teachers have more time to devote to educational intensives. That’s not always the case—67% of teachers in New Jersey had some form of summer gig in 2015, according to one informal survey, and only a third of teachers reserve time from second jobs and family obligations for ongoing education. With that in mind, we rounded up this list of creative, low-stress—and flexible—professional development ideas to pass to your teachers to keep their minds sharp and their spirits high for the Fall 2016 semester.

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2016 Summer Reading List for Division Heads

Academic Leadership // July 7, 2016

We hope your summer is as sunny and joyous as it has been here at the ISM headquarters, where we’re in the middle of hosting our Summer Institute workshop series in Wilmington, Delaware. Even if you haven’t been able to join in the professional development opportunities with your peers, we don’t want you to let this relatively calm period of the school year slip past without investing in yourself. So, we asked our Consultants to assemble this list of go-to books, and here’s what they recommend.

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Highlights From the 2016 Annual Report on Philanthropy

Advancement // July 6, 2016

Every year, the Giving USA Foundation publishes one of the most highly regarded reports on philanthropic giving in the United States, offering organizations of all sizes and missions a benchmark set of data against which to evaluate their own advancement efforts. While every school’s Development Office faces unique challenges in donor cultivation, the Annual Report on Philanthropy offers interesting food for thought when considering the broader giving landscape.

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2016 Summer Reading List for Development Directors

Advancement // July 6, 2016

We wish everyone at the Development Office and your entire school a sun-filled summer full of relaxation—and professional development. Sure, the classrooms might be empty of students (for now), but your work is rarely done. The temporary breather offers you some time to catch up on that list of books you promised yourself you’d get to this year—and we’ve got a few suggestions for you to tackle while catching some rays.

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