Acquiring Enough Land, Part One

Board of Trustees // June 22, 2015

To maintain the trust, your Board must ensure the school can fulfill its mission and meet its goals without having land values and the lack of space limit program or planning decisions—not just now, but 100 years in the future! If your school does not have a land-acquisition plan. Now is the time to develop one. Acquiring land now that you may need in the future is of strategic importance to your school. With this in mind, you must (1) determine your school’s needs, and (2) take action if necessary. In this article, we will discuss how to ascertain your school’s needs. In the next issue, we will discuss how to move forward if you decide more land is required.

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Ask ISM's Health Care Reform Specialist

Business and Operations // June 19, 2015

Q: How should we be tracking the hours for coaches? Do we have to include substitute teachers as part time employees? We are thinking of hiring an intern and paying a stipend. Do we have to offer the intern health insurance? Do we count Summer Camp employees? How do we keep track of Part-time employee hours?

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Standing Desks Combat Student Obesity, Inactivity

Business and Operations // June 19, 2015

2014 was a landmark year for American couch potatoes, according to the Physical Activity Council’s 2015 Participation Report. Researchers saw the highest level of inactivity out of the last six years. While school-aged children seemed to be the most active of any age group surveyed, about 20% of students indicated a lack of substantial, committed physical activity. One proposed solution to student inactivity—at least in part—is a radical new classroom arrangement featuring “standing desks.”

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New Research: Toxic Coworkers Can "De-energize" Your Workforce

Business and Operations // June 19, 2015

We've long said that bad attitudes on your faculty and staff can poison a school community. Toxic teachers can lead to resignations of your best staff, flagging enthusiasm, and a lack of innovation within your classrooms. Despite the best hiring protocols, many administrators believe that "Negative Nellies" and others of their ilk inevitably creep into any large community of professionals. People, the philosophy dictates, must learn to work around such roadblocks. However, recent research out of the University of Michigan has revealed that negative coworkers can bring the entire community down, rendering efforts to "work around" the toxicity as useless.

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The Authenticity of Student Evaluations

School Heads // June 17, 2015

How much weight should student evaluations of their teachers carry? On the one hand, students are with their instructors nearly every day. Their engagement and education is directly impacted by how well their teachers perform, and so perhaps may deserve to be heard within the broader evaluation framework. However, new research suggests that students—even adult students!—may not have the emotional maturity or perspective to offer “authentic” reviews of their teachers.

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The Professorship of Play

School Heads // June 17, 2015

In a time when public schools are cutting recess and other "down time" periods in favor of increased academic instruction, one school has decided to prioritize the role of play. In fact, with the generous help of Lego, it's going so far as to establish a "Professorship of Play" to study how and why playing helps children grow and learn.

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Teach Trustees About Your School’s Educational Programs

Board of Trustees // June 16, 2015

The Board must not be involved in your school’s educational program, either as individuals or as a group. Discussions and decisions about the program are not appropriate topics for Trustees. The Board has hired the School Head to orchestrate the curriculum and programs, and supervise their delivery. However, that does not excuse Trustees from knowing how your mission is fulfilled and being able to effectively describe the excellence that occurs on your campus to community members and prospective families. Trustees must possess accurate information about your educational programs. What they describe must match what people see and experience in their associations with the school. The School Head must provide Board members compelling information that they can share. Consider employing the following strategies in education your school’s Board.

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The School Head’s File: Keeping Tabs on Your Employee

Board of Trustees // June 16, 2015

With any employer/employee relationship, there are paper and electronic files that must be maintained. Just as your school should have a policy on what is contained in an employee’s file and who will maintain it, your Board must do the same for its sole employee—the School Head.

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Sexual Misconduct on Campus Part I: Defining Sexual Misconduct

Business and Operations // June 12, 2015

Talking about sexual misconduct—sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, and rape—is not a comfortable topic for anyone. Yet, it’s a topic that can’t be ignored. It demands that we push past our discomfort. As Risk Manager, you know that reacting to a situation without established protocol is dangerous. You might not react in compliance with the law, and you could add more injury to the situation—especially in cases of sexual misconduct that need to be handled delicately.

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Summery Health Infused Water Recipes

Business and Operations // June 12, 2015

Summertime means afternoons at the pool, weekends at the beach, backyard BBQs, hiking trails, gardening, baseball games, conferences… summertime means extended hours outdoors doing what we can’t do during the long winter months. More sunlight and warm temperatures offer many health benefits, but extended exposure can also make us vulnerable to certain health risks such as dehydration. To counter dehydration, we fill up our coolers, water bottles, and canteens. But, water by itself can be boring, and energy drinks and flavored waters contain unwanted sugars and chemicals.

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