SAIS Fall 2019 Magazine

S A I S M A G A Z I N E │ FA L L 2 0 1 9

Energized, Elevated Professional Development Complete Guide to 2019 Annual Conference • Keynote: Strategic Agility in Uncertain Times • Navigating New Board Trends

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CONTENTS

02 From SAIS President Debra Wilson 04 C onference Keynote: Kathy Pearson on Strategic Agility and Uncertainty

06 Opening Session: Mike Cobb on Intentional Innovation

08 Maximizing the Board/Head Alliance 10 Plan Your Annual Conference Experience 16 SAIS Board of Trustees Nominees 17 SAIS Distinguished Service Award Winners 18 Heads on the Move 19 Calendar of Events 22 S ummer Conference Round Up 24 P erspective: Ross Peters on Civility

SA IS MAG AZ I N E

I FALL 2019

The mission of SAIS is to strengthen member schools by providing high-quality accreditation processes, comprehensive professional growth opportunities, and visionary leadership development programs.

The SAIS magazine is published twice annually. Contact media@sais.org with comments or submissions.

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From SAIS President Debra Wilson As with many new school leaders, July 1st was

“I am so much looking forward to this journey with you and SAIS. If there is ever anything I can do, please do not hesitate to reach out.

We are never too busy to help with an issue or serve as a sounding board to talk something through. You are the reason we are here.”

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the official start of the journey that began when

I accepted this position last August. I can only hope

those of you who also embarked on new positions

this summer were as fortunate as I have been in the

thoughtfulness and graciousness of my predecessor, Kirk Walker, as well as in the patience and welcome of the SAIS staff.

With any new position, particularly in a new organization, you always wonder what you are going to find and what kind of welcome you may find there. For someone like me, who learns by asking a lot of questions, it has been thrilling to work with colleagues who not only want to provide answers, but who also want to engage in dialogue about where the organization has been and where we might take it. This kind of engagement speaks not only to the health of the organization, but also to the health of the organization’s culture.

As I was getting situated with staff, we launched into an SAIS board retreat in mid-July. As many of you know, late June and July are great times to be with heads of school as they have their war stories for the year to share and are cheerfully looking ahead to a few weeks that demand a little less of their time and quick decision-making skills. This meeting was no different.

We spoke about many things, but mainly about what is so right about the SAIS membership and organization.

This SAIS board retreat discussion was vital to me as a new leader because my beginning invariably will bring about some change. However, we don’t want to lose that which makes our organization so special. We want to make sure that whatever changes come about continue to capture what resonated with our community in the first place. Of course, professional development, accreditation, surveys, and resources are vital to SAIS. However, what has come through loud and clear from the SAIS staff, board, and outreach from schools is that SAIS’s “secret sauce” is not in the what the association does, but in how it makes people feel.

The community that SAIS has created is unique. The SAIS membership brings together a range of school types, sizes, and budgets that does not tend to coexist within most independent school organizations. It prioritizes respecting schools’ differences—supporting them where they are in their development. It allows schools to engage in conversations and exploration and offers them support as they find their way in the context of their mission, vision, and values. In a time that is becoming defined by how we are separated, SAIS is at least in part defined by how it brings us together in a culture of respect and kindness.

My experience with this culture is one of the reasons I joined SAIS. As many of you know, while I have a broad range of experiences working with schools and developing resources and programs, one of my specialty items for the last 19 years has been helping school leaders wrestle with complex issues.

These most definitely include crises, but also helping schools think holistically about challenging topics that are new to them and potentially difficult to navigate. We always start from the same place: tell me what happened, tell me where you are trying to go, and tell me about your school culture, mission, and community. Then let’s talk about how I can help you get there.

These conversations often include mutual chuckles about the challenges that we would love to wish away, but also an understanding that developing a school involves those challenges and every school has some. As independent school leaders, you are tasked with navigating in ways that are appropriate for your institution; as an association, SAIS is here to support you.

I am so much looking forward to this journey with you and SAIS. If there is ever anything I can do, please do not hesitate to reach out. We are never too busy to help with an issue or serve as a sounding board to talk something through.

You are the reason we are here.

Sincerely,

– Debra P. Wilson, SAIS President

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2019 SAIS ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Keynote Speaker

Kathy Pearson Effective strategic planning in today’s uncertain environment Every senior leader wrestles with difficult decisions, staring down an inflection point or fork in the road that could lead an institution to wildly different futures.

Perhaps it’s best—and safest—to rely on the time-honored (but slow moving) strategic planning process to resolve the uncertainty and ensure the right decision is reached.

But in today’s lightning-fast environment, with constantly-changing variables, there’s risk in that. A five-year plan might not anticipate a re-work of the leadership team to bring in talent you know in your gut you can’t afford to lose.

Or that timeline for building projects might suddenly be misaligned with current needs. What’s the best way to plan, to iterate, to re-think, to thoughtfully lead?

“You can’t guarantee a good outcome,” says Kathy Pearson, keynote speaker for the 2019 SAIS Annual Conference. But with thoughtful preparation, she promises you can improve the probability things will turn out well. Her keynote, Managing Uncertainty: The Need for Strategic Agility will help attendees cultivate critical skills to more successfully navigate uncertain waters.

With degrees in mathematics and decision science—a core focus of her Ph.D. in industrial engineering was statistics—you might think Kathy is all about collecting data to inform a good decision. “Predictive analytics are valuable but human behavior can never be truly predicted,” she says. “Because we have so much data now, it paralyzes us even more.” She cites this increased desire for data, along with two other tendencies—looking at the world based on the past and not soliciting diverse viewpoints—as barriers to good decision-making.

Independent schools that have been in existence for a long time have a harder time adapting to the notion of making decisions amid uncertainty, she observes.

There’s less support for a new direction when the path the school has followed was successful in the past. But a lack of organizational vigilance—failure to listen to the people most attuned to the changing external environment— endangers the health of your school.

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Kathy quotes renown poker player Annie Duke who says outcomes—in business, sports, or poker—are based on two things: “my skill and the hand I’m dealt.” In her breakout session, Tools and Actions to Build Strategic Agility: Practical Application, Kathy will focus on the specific skills that contribute to playing the hand you’re dealt to the best possible outcome. Are we listening to varied perspectives? Are we vigilant and aware of our particular context, curious about trends and changing patterns? “People think agile decisions are decisions quickly made,” she says, “but it really means being able to adapt after decisions are made and circumstances are clarified.” She cites a Wall Street Journal article from earlier this year that reported applications to MBA programs are declining. Are graduate schools consigned to simply fight harder for fewer students? Or could agile thinking lead to structural changes that better align and serve the current environment?

“People think agile decisions

are decisions quickly made,”

Kathy’s industrial and consulting experience includes advising senior leadership teams in the areas of strategic formulation, leading under uncertainty, and bridging the gap between strategy and execution. In addition to consulting with her firm Enterprise Learning Solutions, Kathy works in executive education at The Wharton School, Smith College, and the Institute for Management Studies teaching a variety of topics including complex decision making, strategic agility and execution, the enterprise mindset, stakeholder management, and operational excellence.

Kathy received her B.S. in theoretical mathematics from Auburn University, her M.S. in decision sciences from Georgia State University, and her Ph.D. in industrial engineering (concentration in statistics) from Northwestern University. She serves on the board of Summer Search Philadelphia, a nonprofit organization that works with disadvantaged youth to prepare them for college and beyond. With her deep experience in a wide range of disciplines, Kathy’s keynote and breakout are sure to prompt fresh insights into tackling tough problems.

Kathy says, “but it really

Register at www.sais.org/ac for the 2019 SAIS Annual Conference, October 27-29 in Atlanta. Kathy’s keynote session is at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, October 29.

after decisions are made and

Suggested Reading: Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts by Annie Duke

means being able to adapt

circumstances are clarified.”

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2019 SAIS ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Opening Speaker

Mike Cobb

Innovator, Optimist, Frugal Spender

Mike Cobb arrived at All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler, Texas, in 2016, honored and eager to lead one of the oldest schools in East Texas. All Saints enjoyed a long and respected reputation. But there were some troubling trendlines. The school found itself in the unfamiliar position of having to compete for new students.

Retention issues were emerging, with families slipping away to other schools. Learning spaces needed a refresh if they were to keep up with newer curricular and pedagogical approaches.

An advocate of intentional innovation, Mike initiated an investigatory process to chart the way forward, with the goal to maximize time, talent, and space across campus.

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Mike invites attendees to bring their specific challenges to his breakout session Intentional Innovation: I’m Ready, Now What? for problem-solving and feedback.

Small workgroups will examine specific situations and engage in deeper, practical discussion of ways to foster innovation and growth on their campuses.

Within three years, the school welcomed more new students than it ever had, improved retention dramatically, and renovated or repurposed 12 learning spaces on campus.

Mike will share his thorough, rapid-fire, unfailingly optimistic approach to innovating within the independent school ethos at Sunday’s opening session of the 2019 SAIS Annual Conference.

Underpinning each positive step All Saints has taken over the past three years is a North Star document, a statement Mike and his faculty fashioned that authentically articulates the school’s mission, identity, and core values. It plainly asks “Who are we and who do we want to be?” says Mike.

The North Star document clarifies and saves time, filtering the array of possible directions, new initiatives, and inherent solutions to distill those that align with the school’s stated principles. The entire staff read the book Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland, which helped break some less-than-helpful habits as committees and groups met to share and evaluate new ideas. The “scrum” method encouraged agile thinking and introduced non-linear ways of problem-solving.

In his presentation at the Annual Conference, Intentional Innovation: Time, Space, & Talent, Mike will share the step-wise way he created momentum for positive change.

He will explain how to leverage the “frontrunners”—those early adopters in a school community who are eager to innovate and need only permission to do so. Mike will also discuss the expected pushback and how to manage community members unsettled by change and new approaches.

With 25 years in education, Mike has served as a teacher, coach, division head, admissions director, and head of school. He is a 2009 Vanderbilt University Peabody Fellow and holds an M.Ed. from Cambridge College as well as additional degrees from the University of North Texas.

Register at www.sais.org/ac for the 2019 SAIS Annual Conference, October 27-29 in Atlanta. Mike’s opening session is at 5:00 PM on Sunday, October 27.

Suggested Reading: Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

by Jeff Sutherland

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2019 SAIS BOARD/HEAD RETREAT

The Board/Head Alliance:

A critical component to the success of an independent school Effective nonprofit organizations have one thing in common: the senior leader enjoys a relationship of trust and mutual respect with the board. In advance of the 2019 SAIS Annual Conference, heads of school and members of their boards can spend an invaluable day taking stock of their partnership at the SAIS Board/ Head Retreat.

“This year’s event will be very different from years past,” says SAIS President Debra Wilson, a retreat co-facilitator. She joins Jack Creeden, who has led multiple independent schools and chaired the NAIS Board of Trustees, and Amada Torres, vice president of studies, insights, and research at NAIS, in leading the retreat. And you don’t have to be new to your role to attend.

“It’s for everybody,” says Debra. “Current heads, new heads, new board chairs and members, and also experienced ones who want to understand what goes into building a healthier board culture.” During the retreat, participants will examine tensions inherent in the board/head relationship and explore current issues and pressures that complicate the independent school environment. To navigate these difficult waters successfully, the head and board must communicate effectively with one another as well as the wider community.

“The nature of boards is changing,” observes Debra.

“As we’re getting deeper into Gen Z and millennials, they’re more inclined to ask questions about why” as opposed to rubber-stamping an agenda item because that’s the way it’s always been done.

This can feel uncomfortable, even conflicted, if heads, chairs, and trustees have an expectation of an always-harmonious, shared endeavor of board service with all viewpoints aligned and everyone pulling in the same direction. But this is not Stepford and a positive board culture doesn’t look that way at all, according to Jack. Not by a longshot. In fact, those behaviors may actually mask dysfunction.

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JACK CREEDEN

AMADA TORRES

“Boards with a positive culture encourage dissenting views and opinions,” Jack Creeden says, and he should know, having recently completed work on the firstever NAIS Board Chair Handbook. On a healthy board, “everyone is collegial but not congenial” and each member feels free to present an alternative viewpoint. It’s vital that both the head and the board chair understand, even encourage, comments from a wide range of perspectives.

Strong viewpoints unexpressed at a plenary session, as any veteran leader can tell you, will likely be shared in the parking lot later, or in a side meeting or phone call. That’s where things can get dangerously off-track.

But deft, supportive, and calm management of the exchange of differing ideas and insights can keep meetings from veering into the combative and can keep a school on track with its mission.

Are there ways to cultivate healthy dissent on the board?

“Absolutely,” says Amada, who researches independent school trends in her role with NAIS. It begins with taking care whom you recruit to serve on the board. “We are advising independent schools to diversify who serves on the board,” she says, noting current parents are generally overrepresented. They are typically risk-averse and if they’re also alumni, they tend to support delivery of an education very close to what they experienced.

An insistence on “doing it like it’s always been done” can discourage others from introducing new ideas and approaches. The healthy board welcomes members with and without a long pedigree within the community, who come from a variety of backgrounds and viewpoints, who welcome innovation and are ready to problem-solve in new ways.

DEBRA WILSON

Even the most sought-after independent schools that enjoy full enrollment and stellar reputations reach inflection points that require them to respond and adjust to cultural forces and market dynamics. Amada says it is crucial that boards and heads understand, and not ignore, the variables in play. By way of example, she notes fewer parents enroll their five-year-old children in kindergarten and leave them at a single school until high school graduation. They are more inclined to re-evaluate how the school is serving their child (and family) every enrollment season and compare it to other options—a sea change from the way independent school parents have tended to operate in the past. Public schools are riding the STEM bandwagon to entice top students to return even as the number of homeschoolers continues to rise. It’s incumbent on boards and their chairs to understand these kinds of universal trends and be equipped to formulate a plan to address a shifting landscape.

When the board and head partner effectively, they can solicit a variety of viewpoints and solutions and alleviate the anxiety that naturally emerges amidst change and transition.

Register at www.sais.org/bhr for the 2019 Board/Head Retreat, 10AM-4PM on October 27 in Atlanta.

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2019 SAIS ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Myriad Paths to Pursue at the 2019 SAIS Annual Conference Making the most of your learning experience

We don’t have to tell you that independent schools are increasingly complex organizations. Sustaining enrollment requires nuanced messaging to ensure enrolled families and prospects don’t misunderstand what you’re all about. Classrooms have given way to student-centered learning hubs. Faculty hires don’t just need content knowledge, but ideally share the school’s mission and vision and understand a wider strategy of how the school intends to move forward with innovation across multiple measures. Then there’s the challenge of making the numbers work, of funding important initiatives on secure financial footing. The SAIS Annual Conference is designed to help school leaders decode elements of all this, with keynote presentations and breakout sessions that provide new solutions, new approaches, and opportunities for supportive discussions along the way.

Designed to serve heads and senior leaders, the conference offers a deep well of insight and the opportunity to expand leadership capacity. It begins with the pre-conference Board/Head Retreat, followed by two days of practical, professional development for division heads, academic deans, diversity and equity leaders, advancement and communication team members, business officers—virtually every member of the leadership team. Also, attendees can sit over a cup of coffee at one of many roundtables to connect with like-minded colleagues. From issues unique to small schools to the challenges of establishing maker spaces on campus, roundtables are the ideal place for frank give-and-take.

Listed at right are general topic areas and a few session highlights. The following pages include a complete grid of session offerings. Dig in and select topics most aligned with your interests.

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TE ACHING & LE ARNING

• Intentional Innovation Mike Cobb, head of All Saints Episcopal School, offers a refreshing approach to using a process that rapidly identifies persistent issues and sensible paths to transformation. MONDAY 9:00 A.M.

• Improving Faculty Morale Peggy Campbell-Rush, head of lower school at Bolles, discusses small but critical changes that create a happier and more productive environment. MONDAY 10:45 A.M.

• You’re Fired: Delivering and Receiving the News Warren Sepkowitz, head of middle school at Charlotte Country Day, offers practical advice for parting ways. MONDAY 10:45 A.M.

• The Ongoing Journey of the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC) Benjamin Rein from MTC will share a full update on the work underway to change the culture and practice around student assessment and crediting. MONDAY 4:15 P.M.

• Tools and Actions to Build Strategic Agility: Practical Application Kathy Pearson, our keynote speaker, explores the how-to’s of building a sturdy organization that can adapt and even thrive amid rapid change. TUESDAY 10:30 A.M. • Strategic Momentum: A Key to Sustainability Tim Fish, chief innovation officer at NAIS, explores the concept of momentum and its relationship to independent school success.

MONDAY 2:30 P.M.

ADVANCEMENT • Building Endowment Phil Higginson, assistant head of school for institutional advancement at Ravenscroft, and Herb Soles from ISM unpack the strategies necessary to build endowment and its key role in protecting financial security. MONDAY 2:30 P.M. • Alumni Relations Consultant Jill Goodman offers proven methods for engaging alumni and creating deeper loyalty. MONDAY 4:15 P.M.

ENROLLMENT • The Road Ahead: Key Trends Impacting Independent Schools Amada Torres of NAIS presents important data on changing demographics, changing consumer attitudes, and school choice.

MONDAY 9:00 A.M.

• Net Tuition Revenue Palmer Ball, executive director of Palmetto Association of Independent Schools, details the importance of moving from the student headcount as indicator of financial health to a net tuition revenue model. MONDAY 10:45 A.M. • From Gatekeeper to Strategic Leader: Evolving From Admissions to Strategic Enrollment Management Consultant Dana Nelson-Issacs examines enrollment challenges and concrete solutions. TUESDAY 10:30 A.M.

• Social/Emotional Learning and Social Media Laura Tierney from The Social Institute and Sarah Loyola of Ravenscroft School team up to explore this intersection.

MONDAY 2:30 P.M.

DI VER SIT Y/EQUIT Y/INCLUSION • Engaging Families of Color Teresa Jenkins, diversity and inclusion coordinator at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, and Roderick White, director of diversity and community life at University School of Nashville, will share transformative approaches around engaging families of color. MONDAY 2:30 P.M. • From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces Brandi Hoyos and Nicole Martin from Mount Vernon Presbyterian School will share how to launch difficult conversations necessary for forward progress. TUESDAY 10:30 A.M. • Capitalizing on Neurodiversity in Classrooms Josh Clark and Janet Street from the Schenck School will share the importance of including every unique voice. MONDAY 4:15 P.M.

M ARK E TING & COMMUNIC ATIONS • Illuminate Your BEACON Shelly Peters of CRANE offers insight on how to ensure your school’s messaging is targeted to your best-fit families. TUESDAY 10:30 A.M. • Website Must-Haves Communications consultant Pam Mason-Norsworthy walks through websites, highlighting typically missing elements that frustrate prospects and potential hires. MONDAY 10:45 A.M. • Marketing from a Millennial Point of View Jenna Murphy, Woodward Academy admissions counselor, examines the changing aspects of marketing to millennials. TUESDAY 2:30 P.M. A complete list of breakouts can be found on pages 12-15.

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MONDAY, OCT 28 BREAKOUT SESSIONS DIVER SIT Y/EQUIT Y/ INCLUSION 9:00 A M MONDAY

Your Community Is Biased: What Are You Doing About It? Allen Broyles The Children’s School Examine the underpinnings of our biases, hear about research that illuminates examples of institutional bias, and take away suggestions for specific strategies to reduce bias in your school.

10:45 A M MONDAY

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LE ADER SHIP

STR ATEGIC PL ANNING

Intentional Innovation: I’m Ready, Now What?

Mike Cobb All Saints Episcopal School Re-imagine programs, spaces, and personnel, whatever your budget or school setting.

Alleviate faculty and parent pushback and create momentum needed to innovate.

You’re Fired: Delivering & Receiving the News Warren Sepkowitz Charlotte Country Day School The process of firing is gutwrenching, nauseating, and emotionally exhausting. No matter which side you’re on, being fired or delivering the news, this session will share advice on how to get through the tough conversations.

Growing Leaders in Our Schools Michelle Bostian Greensboro Day School Mark Hale Mark Hale Consulting Explore skills and strategies to develop the leadership capacity of promising employees. Learn how to create a growth mindset and a culture of feedback.

2: 30 PM MONDA Y

Engaging Families of Color With Intention Teresa Jenkins St. Mary’s Episcopal School Roderick White University School of Nashville What can independent schools do to help families of color feel supported and engaged within their school community?

Strategies to help schools become more intentional in their relationships with families of color.

Strategic Momentum: A Key to Sustainability Tim Fish NAIS Success is often tied to a school’s ability to create and sustain strategic momentum.

Deconstruct the components of momentum and explore tools and frameworks to help get your school “on the move.”

Case Studies in Strategic Planning Scott & Tammy Barron School Growth Three SAIS schools that have recently completed a strategic growth plan will share wisdom from the journey and provide practical insights for continuous improvement.

4:15 PM MONDAY

Capitalizing on the Neurodiversity in Our Classrooms Josh Clark & Janet Street Schenck School Understand how to recognize neurodiversity, how to support it, and how to channel it so that we teach to the skills needed for the future.

Courageous Conversations Lauren Sikes DesignEd Effective communication is the key driver for highperforming teams and schools.

Learn and practice tools and strategies that result in the confidence to engage in courageous conversations.

Learning Demands Innovative Spaces Brett Jacobsen & Shelley Searcy Mount Vernon Presbyterian School Whether building a new campus, renovating an existing building, or working with a shoestring budget, cast a vision, inspire stakeholders, and design the space your learners need.

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2019 SAIS ANNUAL CONFERENCE LEGAL

ADMISSIONS & DE VELOPMENT

TE ACHING & LE ARNING

M ARKE TING & COMMUNIC ATIONS

Addressing Student Substance Use & Abuse Suzanne Bogdan Fisher Phillips Explore best practices and legal risks schools face in addressing student vaping, drug, and alcohol use.

The Road Ahead: Key Trends Impacting Independent Schools Amada Torres NAIS Changing demographics, school choice, changing consumer attitudes, a new generation of parents, and rising tuitions are affecting our markets and impacting enrollment goals.

Orienting New Faculty Connie White Woodward Academy Explore the components of a mentor/new hire program.

Identify mentor characteristics plus expectations for new faculty. Templates, online portal, socials, and end-of-year surveys will be shared.

Proving & Disproving Hypotheses About Your School’s Image Dana Edwards SimpsonScarborough Are your marketing decisions based on gut feelings and hypotheses? How can you educate the marketplace on your current school environment?

Evolving Legal Trends in Student & Employee Health Caryn Pass & Grace Lee Venable Discussion topics include mental health, immunizations, service animals, accommodations, immunization policies, and medical marijuana and CBD use policies for students and employees.

Changing Focus From Student Headcount to Net Tuition Revenue Palmer Ball PAIS Discover the importance of shifting from student headcount and financial aid to a net tuition revenue model. Identify financial aid metrics to monitor yearly and learn how to spot and reverse negative trends.

Improving Faculty Morale Peggy Campbell-Rush The Bolles School Small changes can have a big and lasting impact. Learn tips and tricks to keep all employees happy and productive. Discuss how to support teachers so they support you and your school.

Website Must-Haves: How Not to Accidentally Drive Away Prospects Pam Mason-Norsworthy Communications Consultant Your website is the first impression prospective families have of your school, an essential and often-neglected marketing tool. Review best organizational principles and functionality with social media.

The Hiring Process: From Job Posting to Offer Caryn Pass & Grace Lee Venable Strategies and legal considerations for the hiring process from the job application to interview questions and reference checks. What you can and cannot ask.

Building Endowment through Promotion, Fundraising, & Management Phil Higginson Ravenscroft School Herb Soles ISM Maximize the role endowment plays in protecting financial security. Review trends, endowment policies, and a multi-year plan. Establish an ongoing planned giving program to grow endowment.

How Innovative Schools Address Social/Emotional Health & Social Media Laura Tierney The Social Institute Sarah Loyola Ravenscroft School Actionable takeaways and best practices for empowering students, parents, and educators through positive social education.

Digitized social media curriculum that is re-shaping the way students learn social and emotional skills.

Marketing From a Millennial Point of View Jenna Murphy Woodward Academy What companies have successfully marketed to millennials and how can these tactics be transferred to the independent school admissions environment?

Developing Social Media Policies Melissa Grand McGlinchey Stafford Legal “hot topics” pertaining to the use/misuse of social media by students, staff, and parents to help school leaders develop sound social media policies.

Successful School Visits Nikki Williams Charlotte Latin School Cassandra Breeding SchoolAdmin Each visit is a chance to make families feellike they are already part of your school’s story. Plan successful school visits and increase applications with these tips and tricks.

Leading Innovation: The Ongoing Journey of the MTC Benjamin Rein Mastery Transcript Consortium Tour the working mastery transcript, ask questions, and hear perspectives on the work underway to change the culture and practice around student assessment and crediting.

Alumni Relations Jill Goodman Goodman Consulting Learn the important elements of creating an alumni program that will engage and resonate with your alumni. Explore proven methods to connect with alumni that graduated in 8th or 12th grade and expectations that alumni have for their alma mater.

TUESDAY, OCT 29 BREAKOUT SESSIONS DIVER SIT Y/EQUIT Y/ INCLUSION 10: 30 A M TUE SDAY

From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces Brandi Hoyos & Nicole Martin Mount Vernon Presbyterian School Does your school community engage in courageous conversations? Define them, discover best practices and resources, hear stories from the trenches, and create an action plan for launch.

12: 30 PM TUE SDAY

The FACTS Solution for Streamlining Operations & Management Courtney Haindel & Jana Kane FACTS Streamline your admissions and enrollment experience. Hone your methods for business office management. Define operational efficiencies and best practices for front office and IT staff.

(P OS T- CONFERENCE SE S SIONS)

LE ADER SHIP

STR ATEGIC PL ANNING

Tools & Actions to Build Strategic Agility: Practical Application Kathy Pearson Enterprise Learning Solutions Learn best practices to increase adaptability, including key leadership behaviors. Kathy will provide tools to overcome barriers to agility and build the organizational ability to dynamically respond to rapid changes.

Utica’s Comprehensive Emergency Preparedness for School Leaders Matt Miraglia Utica Insurance Preparedness, prevention, and protection are key to crisis planning. Learn practical strategies for safeguarding your school against a variety of threats and emergencies.

Essential Questions for Strategic Planning Kay Betts Bettstrategic Group Activate community dialogue by identifying the essential questions. Understand how data can be used to explore these questions and educate stakeholders, resulting in persuasive goals.

Protecting School Resources & Information from Cyber Threats Susan Davis & Christina Lewellen ATLIS Managing risk is a schoolwide effort. Take critical steps to implement the programs and policies needed to secure your school.

CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE! Embark on an educational and fundraising adventure that teaches your students about the world. Visit www.heifer.org/schools to download or order your free resources.

READ TO FEED ®

GLOBAL STUDY GUIDE SERIES

Nurture a love of reading while helping others around the world through our reading incentive program.

Explore topics related to our work with these in-depth interactive guides.

Duration: 3–6 weeks | Elementary

Duration: You choose Middle or high school

H CONTEST H

Raise money through your school and you could win a trip to visit a Heifer project! Visit www.heifer.org/schools for details and rules.

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MILK MONEY

Duration: 1 day–2 weeks | All ages

Create a service project that raises money to help students like those in Tanzania have fresh milk to drink every day.

2019 SAIS ANNUAL CONFERENCE LEGAL

ADMISSIONS & DE VELOPMENT

When #MeToo Hits Home: Responding to Claims of Abuse Deborah Ausburn, Taylor English Duma LLP Donna Caudell, Truett McConnell University Principles for responding to claims of abuse, responsibilities under mandated reporting laws, and how to fulfill obligations to your employer and your students.

From Gatekeeper to Strategic Leader: Evolving From Admissions to Strategic Enrollment Management Dana Nelson-Isaacs DNI Consulting Admissions has evolved into strategic enrollment management.

Explore both theory and practice with concrete take-aways for moving the needle toward greater enrollment management success.

TE ACHING & LE ARNING

M ARKE TING & COMMUNIC ATIONS

How Schools Will Win the Education Revolution Grant Lichtman Discuss the value-innovationstrategy cycle and tools to plan and accelerate strategic transformation. Sharing resources, school examples, and activities that have proven successful.

Illuminate your BEACON: An Assessment Tool for Advancing and Sustaining Your School Shelly Peters CRANE Move families from prospect status to engaged community members. Don’t just attract buyers but cultivate believers and continually craft your school’s culture to ensure long-term sustainability.

THANK YOU SPONSOR S!

Carney, Sandoe & Associates | Collins Cooper Carusi Architects | DENNIS Uniform FACTS Management | Fisher Phillips | Flik Independent School Dining | Heifer International Independent School Management | Lands’ End School Outfitters | Libris by PhotoShelter Mills Uniform Company | SchoolAdmin | Sheldon Laboratory Systems Southern Teachers Agency | Utica National Insurance Group

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | MEMBERSHIP | CONSULTING | SURVEYS | SCHOOL SOFTWARE | INSURANCE

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2020 SAIS Board of Trustees Nominees The following slate is proposed for terms of service beginning January 1, 2020.

Cobb Atkinson

Westchester Country Day School, NC

Leigh Ann Ballou Lamar School, MS

Nancy Foy

The New Community School, VA

Marvin Lishman Magnolia Heights School, MS

Albert Throckmorton St. Mary’s Episcopal School, TN

2020-2021 SAIS Board of Trustees Officers These officers were elected for service from January 1, 2020-December 31, 2021.

CHAIR

VICE CHAIR

PAST CHAIR

Charlotte Country Day School, NC

Grandview Preparatory School, FL

Woodberry Forest School, VA

Mark Reed

Jackie Westerfield

TREASURER

SECRETARY

Gulliver Schools, FL

Ransom Everglades School, FL

Cliff Kling 16

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Byron Hulsey

Penny Townsend

2019 SAIS Distinguished Service Award Winners This award is given by the SAIS Board of Trustees to a head of school or senior administrator in recognition of a long and distinguished career in independent education as well as service to SAIS. Recipients are recognized at the SAIS Annual Conference.

The creation of this award in 2012 was inspired by the life and work of Dale Regan, who devoted 34 years to the Episcopal School of Jacksonville, and who, posthumously, was the award’s first recipient.

Jill Muti

Marcia Prewitt Spiller

Ashley Hall Charleston, SC

Woodward Academy Atlanta, GA

Since Jill Muti’s appointment as head at Ashley Hall in 2004, she has spearheaded efforts to revitalize the school’s classical curriculum and execute a comprehensive master plan encompassing programmatic advances, new and re-purposed facilities, community engagement, and global immersion. Muti previously served as assistant head at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, NC, where she also served as chair of the fine arts department.

She is a past member of the SAIS Board of Trustees and currently serves on the boards of the National Coalition of Girls Schools, the Headmistresses Association of the East, and is a council member of The Heads Network.

Marcia Prewitt Spiller is the senior vice president for academic and student life at Woodward Academy. She previously spent two decades as head of The Children’s School in Atlanta.

Spiller served on the SAIS Board of Trustees and also chaired the boards of both NAIS and GISA. She is currently board chair of The Enrollment Management Association and a board member of the Atlanta Speech School, Planned Parenthood of the Southeast, and YMCA of Metro Atlanta. She conducts seminars and workshops on diversity, multi-cultural curriculum, and teacher training.

Muti is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and earned her bachelor’s degree in music and English literature from Depauw University. She continued her studies at the Wiener Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria, and holds a master’s degree in musicology from Duke University.

Spiller is a 10-year veteran of the /I/D/E/A/ Fellows Summer Institute for Distinguished Educators as well as a graduate of Leadership Atlanta. She has served on over 30 accreditation teams throughout her career and has also consulted on accreditation with schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Spiller earned her bachelor’s in elementary education at Fisk University and her master’s in educational administration from Georgia State University.

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Heads on the Move 2019 Head of School Appointments Ascension Episcopal School Lafayette, LA

Evangelical Christian School Cordova, TN

Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School Rabun Gap, GA

Asheville School Asheville, NC

Fort Bend Christian Academy Sugar Land, TX

Raleigh School Raleigh, NC

Atlanta Academy Roswell, GA

Frederica Academy St. Simons Island, GA

Richmond Waldorf School Richmond, VA

Augusta Preparatory Day School Martinez, GA

Greensboro Day School Greensboro, NC

Riverside Military Academy Gainesville, GA

Brentwood School Sandersville, GA

Harpeth Hall Nashville, TN

Rock Springs Christian Academy Milner, GA

Cannon School Concord, NC

Heritage Preparatory School Atlanta, GA

Saint Francis Day School Roswell, GA

Carmel Christian School Matthews, NC

Indianola Academy Indianola, MS

Springwood School Lanett, AL

Charlotte Latin School Charlotte, NC

Marine Military Academy Harlingen, TX

Starpoint School Fort Worth, TX

Christian Brothers High School Memphis, TN

Mead Hall Episcopal School Aiken, SC

Stratford Academy Macon, GA

Collegiate School Richmond, VA

Miami Country Day School Miami, FL

Windermere Preparatory School Windermere, FL

Cornerstone Christian School San Antonio, TX

Mill Springs Academy Alpharetta, GA

Woodlawn School Davidson, NC

Jeff Plunk

Anthony Sgro

Shannon Dishman Derrick Willard Danny Howell

Christopher Jones Jay Hancock

Chuck Baldecchi David Poos

Penny Evins

Luci Higgins

Braxton Brady Joshua Gettys

Scott Hutchinson Tracie Catlett Jess Hill

Erin Hames

Charlie Mason

Christopher Dowling Frank Sawyer

Mariandl Hufford Debbie Orr

Crisp Academy Cordele, GA

Notre Dame Academy Duluth, GA

Episcopal Day School Southern Pines, NC

Piedmont Academy Monticello, GA

Tim Hathcock Jill Connett

Jeff Miles

Kelly Banik

Emily Elliott

Stanley Preczewski Bruce Reagan

Linda Crawford

Lowrie McCown Kristen Adams Logan Bowlds Steven Lyng

Paul Zanowski

Jenni Ellis

Clint Welch

If your school has a new head not listed here, please notify us at www.sais.org/change.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2O2O

Interim Appointments Benjamin School North Palm Beach, FL

Tom Reid

Carolina Day School Asheville, NC

Academic Support Conference January 26-28 at Crowne Plaza Ravinia, Atlanta, GA

Charleston Collegiate School Charleston, SC

Athletic Directors Conference January 26-28 at Crowne Plaza Ravinia, Atlanta, GA

Coast Episcopal School Long Beach, MS

MISBO-SAIS Academy: Operational Leadership January 26-28 at Crowne Plaza Ravinia, Atlanta, GA

Davidson Day School Davidson, NC

SAIS @ NAIS Reception February 27 in Philadelphia, PA

Deerfield-Windsor School Albany, GA

Leadership Retreat April 20-21 at Westin, Chattanooga, TN

First Presbyterian Day School Macon, GA

Independent School Counselors Conference June 14-16 at SpringHill Suites, Greenville, SC

High Meadows School Roswell, GA

Institute for New Heads June 17-19 at SpringHill Suites, Greenville, SC

Indian Springs School Indian Springs, AL

Institute for Strategic Leadership June 17-19 at SpringHill Suites, Greenville, SC

Kenston Forest School Blackstone, VA

Institute for New Teachers: Public to Private June 17-19 at SpringHill Suites, Greenville, SC

Lakeview Academy Gainesville, GA

Institute for Heads June 23-26 at The Inn at Serenbe, Chatt Hills, GA

Mt. Bethel Christian Academy Marietta, GA

Administrative Leadership Institute June 29-July 1 at Emory Conference Center, Atlanta, GA

New Hope Academy Franklin, TN

Dean of Students Symposium June 29-July 1 at Emory Conference Center, Atlanta, GA

St. Xavier High School Louisville, KY

Division Heads Conference June 29-July 1 at Emory Conference Center, Atlanta, GA

Trinity Presbyterian School Montgomery, AL

Institute for Administrative Assistants June 29-July 1 at Emory Conference Center, Atlanta, GA

Peggy Daniels Bob Shirley

Smokey Oats Wes Wehunt Allen Lowe

Joe McDaniel

Bud Lichtenstein Don North

Lori Bacon

John Simpson

Keith Castello Cady Wilson

Francisco Espinosa Merle Henkel

Westhill Institute Mexico City, Mexico

Gerald Selitzer

Institute for New Teachers July 14-16 in Atlanta, GA July 21-23 in Charlotte, NC July 28-30 in Nashville, TN Annual Conference October 18-20 at Franklin Marriott Cool Springs, Nashville, TN More information at www.sais.org/events FA L L 2 0 1 9 │ SA I S.ORG

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Campus Communiques Poetic Justice Springtime is a relentless season for schools, with academic demands at their zenith, athletic teams in the throes of tournament competition, and student government elections in full-swing. Somehow, students and faculty at Augusta Preparatory School in Georgia still make time for an enthusiastic celebration of poetry. Head Librarian Kirsten Pylant says the school’s PoetrySLAM, which began in 2005, features student-poets performing original works while SLAMfans (the audience) snap their fingers in beatnik-like appreciation. “[We] almost always have introspective poems, political satire, comedic verse, and poems about nature, in a multitude of poetic forms. We are delighted that many students, including visual artists, mathematicians, athletes, and literary-types as well as thespians, join in the event.” The Sacrificial Slammer—usually a faculty member—kicks off the event. Several years ago, a beloved retiring physics instructor presented his poem about being the Sacrificial Slammer, each stanza written in a different poetic form— sonnet, haiku, limerick, and others. A panel of judges—three students and one faculty member—who are most certainly influenced by the volume of the SLAMfan snaps—determines the annual SLAMMaster. Held during an assembly or a break period and infused with clever candy treats, PoetrySLAM is just the artistic anecdote students need to relax and reset during the most hectic time of year.

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Sartorial Splendor for Bulloch’s Green Week

Bulloch Academy in Statesboro, Georgia, has staged Green Week for a decade now, presenting lessons and activities designed to make the school’s operations more ecofriendly. Students have sold s’mores made on solar panels, brought their own cups to replace the cafeteria’s Styrofoam cups, and collected trash across campus. And this year, they extended the point by adding a fashion show.

Students created elaborate and colorful outfits constructed from recycled or discarded materials. Wearing dresses of chip bags, candy bar wrappers, newspapers, soda cans, trash bags, water bottles, and other materials—along with headpieces and other improvised accessories—students walked the runway to the cheers of classmates who found their fashion choices trashy in the best possible way.

Repurpose • Reuse • Recycle

Tallahassee’s Maclay School has a slate of new labs designed to deepen STEM learning. What makes them unusual is that they were once shipping containers, now completely refurbished as academic space. Named The Beck Family Research Center after lead donors Mike and Kelly Beck, the three labs support biomedical and student research, art, design, computer science, robotics, and engineering. The new space is a key element of Maclay’s iTHINK initiative, a re-envisioning of the school’s classrooms, curriculum, and campus. iTHINK stands for Individual, Technology, Handson learning, Innovation, Network, and Knowledge and represents a commitment to preparing Maclay students for college through innovative learning and facilities that allow exploration of specific interests and passions, even as they engage the community. The iTHINK labs were constructed in Central Florida at Sundog Containers, then transported to Tallahassee.

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Summer Conference Round Up School may have been out for the summer, but SAIS was in session hosting a non-stop series of professional development events across the region.

From Atlanta to Clearwater Beach to Nashville to Charleston, we welcomed hundreds of current and aspiring leaders, each gleaning new insight and practical know-how to help them better serve their independent school communities.

Find more photos at www.facebook.com/saisnews

Accreditation Summit, Atlanta, GA

Dean of Students Symposium, Clearwater Beach, FL

Institute for Heads, Clearwater Beach, FL

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Administrative Leadership Institute, Clearwater Beach, FL

Independent School Counselors Conference, Atlanta, GA

Institute for New Teachers, Nashville, TN

Institute for Administrative Assistants, Clearwater Beach, FL

Division Heads Conference, Clearwater Beach, FL FA L L 2 0 1 9 │ SA I S.ORG

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Perspective Counter-Cultural: A Call for Civility Amidst Conflict

By J. Ross Peters, Head of School at St. George’s Independent School, Memphis, TN By the time we made it to August 2016, a standard opening of school letter would have seemed hollow and mis-timed. The echo chambers of our socio-political dialogue as demonstrated through the presidential election cycle, had become strident to a degree I had not seen before, and thus it was impossible to reconcile the values I believe live at the core of our school with the reality of vitriol that had infiltrated the campaign speeches and debates scorching the earth across the country.

Additionally, that summer had been overfull with terrorist attacks in Orlando, Baton Rouge, Minneapolis, Dallas, and Nice. As the novelty of these tragedies faded and became more and more horrifyingly predicable, I was running out of advice to parents struggling to provide support and guidance to their children.

I felt as if I needed to name the environment we were in and strive in a nonpartisan way to place the school’s priorities and expectations within it. Sometimes schools are called to be unapologetically counter-cultural.

Here is a long excerpt from that letter I sent to our families: “‘I have an ask for all of us—teachers, parents, friends and students: make a commitment to civility and to civil discourse within our school community. Please make this commitment even as we witness its opposite day in and day out in media, in political campaigns, on athletic field sidelines, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat threads.

We cannot ask young people to be civil, much less to value civility and civil dialogue if we are not able to meet the standard ourselves.

The most highly-charged issues of our time are alive in the conversations our students are having with and without us every day. We know that they are watching us carefully. Interestingly, even when as parents we believe our kids are not listening to us or valuing our opinions, there is no source of insight they trust more than us. They are listening to what we say and how we say it. They are using us to formulate their opinions and to calibrate their character. They are testing boundaries in order to find the lines within which they will operate as adults. In our national dialogue we are struggling to post appropriate boundary markers for young people regarding civility, so in our community, the SGIS community, we have an obligation to be counter-cultural.

Preparing students, our children, for the “real world” does not mean emulating its worst characteristics. The best preparation for young people includes setting a far higher bar so that they grow into the very people who are ready to help raise standards above the lowest common denominator. At SGIS, the call to be counter-cultural in this area is not new; however, the immediacy of its relevance has never been clearer. St. George’s has always sought to bring people together, and our three-campus model drawing from over 50 zip codes is a testament to both our faith that we can navigate the spaces that separate us and our determination that we must. I request that all members of our school community deepen our commitment to civility even as the world around us may seem determined to undermine the effort. Civility involves acts of will and thus reflects our character both as individuals and as a group.”

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At the core of my desire to write this letter at that specific moment was a sense that things were indeed going to get worse before they got better, and there were things as the head of school I wanted to say while I was still able to speak from a proactive position.

As head of an independent school, I am not called to or inclined to support publicly one party over another or one candidate over another. However, I believe I am called, and educators everywhere are called, to announce that we can and must seek a higher bar for discourse in our country beginning within our schools.

This presidential campaign created many appalling moments.

The behavior young people were seeing flash across their media feeds stood in stark contrast to the emphasis on character our schools place at the center of missions and values. Our talk about character education in our schools is often poetic and it is certainly unmissable. We are not shy about our high expectations regarding how to engage other people and how to be a part of a community together. I love the character education aspect of our work because fundamentally I believe that civility, humility, and kindness must be present to balance our passions, beliefs, and opinions. Our emphasis on this balance is vital and relevant in part because history teaches over and over again that it is never an easy thing to achieve AND very little can be accomplished without it.

Our nation has a long and painfully mixed history of challenging debates. In the end, however, we have survived because our debates, at times after long enmity, have led to a recognition that we can and must be stronger as a result of each other rather than corroded by presence of each other. In the end, we have been our best as a nation when we have been as willing to learn as we are to speak, teach, or preach. Too many voices—loud shouting voices—have been telling us recently that it is weakness to seek or try to engage in thoughtful dialogue. If it is a weakness, then the great statesmen and women of history, and specifically our national history, were weak. To assert this is as obscene as it is untrue. In our hallways and classrooms and on our stages and athletic fields, our challenge is to rise to a higher mark. It has never been more difficult, nor more imperative, to do so.

“We have been our best as a nation when we have been as willing

to learn as we are to

speak, teach, or preach.”

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