| Building Character in the Classroom: Research, Methods, and Tools Successful Teachers Use |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Collaboration among faculty and staff is a key driver for developing a comprehensive character program. Student conduct issues have been on the rise since students have endured unprecedented stressors, such as remote school and isolation from peers. These factors, combined with research, should induce educators to seek out innovative ways for schools to support the social-emotional needs of our students. For the past year, our team cultivated a collaborative relationship among faculty by incorporating existing classroom practices and social-emotional curriculum. Engage with strategies and activities to explore how you might apply our findings at your school.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Examine a case study of a comprehensive character program for middle and high school students, faculty/staff, and families.
- Explore the opportunities and challenges facing a school community embarking on a focus of character development.
- Develop a plan for how to encourage enthusiastic educators and help the skeptics.
- Presenters: Amanda Quintanilla, Kory Gallagher, and Lindsay Zimmerman, The Barstow School (MO)
|
The Student Experience |
| Thriving in Uncertainty: Growing a Vital and Unassailable School Culture |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: We lived through September 11, Sandy Hook, and societal polarization—yet what we have seen this year in student behaviors, parent agitation, and educator exhaustion is unparalleled from any earlier experience. Independent school educators know that no learning occurs without connection, community, and culture. Though we have always known this, fostering this conducive environment has become more challenging. Our task is to prepare our communities to navigate a present categorized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Join us for activities and discussion to forge a body of knowledge to build strong communities that grow—despite the storms around them.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Examine current research on emotional wherewithal and school culture, including a recent independent school case study.
- Learn practices and systems needed for relational building among students and families.
- Identify strategies that you can use in your own school to build connection, community, and culture.
- Presenters: Amanda Packard and Amy Jolly, Applewild School (MA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Agentic Engagement: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Be Measured |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Educators and administrators proclaim to love the idea of student engagement. However, how much do we really know about this educational construct? Are schools more inclined toward student compliance or true engagement? Is it a universal term to be applied in whatever way fits the environment? Or does it mean something more that entails deeper exploration? Join us to focus on the research literature around engagement broadly, agentic engagement specifically, and a unique partnership between a doctoral student and independent day school seeking to better understand their students' feelings of agency and control in the classroom.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Develop and/or refine your understanding of student engagement and its measurement.
- Investigate agentic engagement as a means to understanding agency in your school's classrooms.
- Consider the benefits of partnering with educational researchers.
- Presenters: Anthony Elmore, University of San Francisco; Chris Mazzola, The Branson School (CA)
|
The Student Experience |
| STEAMing Up Shakespeare |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Too often our programs operate in silos with teachers working in isolation, yet we all know the power of integration—meaningful, authentic learning for students and for adults, the chance to thrive and collaborate with colleagues. Too often the arts and humanities can feel at odds with more recent programmatic additions of technology and engineering. Share how we moved from a single-class project to an interdisciplinary one and brainstorm with colleagues about what current content can grow into an interdisciplinary unit. Return to your school ready to put ideas into action.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Collegial collaboration across subjects.
- Authentically integrate STEM with arts and humanities.
- Harness the power of interdisciplinary experiences for students.
- Presenters: Nancy Nagramada, Sofia Lopez-Ibor, Carly Reiter, and Sadie Wilcox, The San Francisco School (CA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Engaging Challenging Parents: Tools for Teachers |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Many parents within independent schools are supportive and engaged. Nevertheless, some parents, conversations, and topics can still present challenges. Get a rubric for teachers who are preparing for (or who are unexpectedly encountering) a challenging or emotive conversation or situation with a parent. Focus on self-reflection, thorough preparation, collaborative language, recentering techniques, and next-step objectives. As you practice the rubric in breakout groups, learn to reframe parental concerns and develop communication and problem-solving skills to help you manage most challenging parents effectively.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Find hour how teachers can prepare to think differently about working effectively with challenging parents.
- Get a rubric of communication skills to build teacher confidence in approaching and managing challenging parents.
- Learn to use shared knowledge/expertise of the teacher and the parent to strengthen the relationship and support the child.
- Presenters: Sara Stephenson and Polly Kronsberg, Ashley Hall (SC)
|
The Student Experience |
| From George Floyd’s Death to Anti-Asian Hate to the War in Ukraine: Navigating Institutional Responses |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Over the last three years, schools have faced the questions of when to respond and how when events occurred nationally and in their own communities. To help our schools navigate this essential tension, we created a Crisis Communications Protocol designed to help administrators quickly determine when, how, and with what level of urgency to respond. Share our process, the questions we examined, and the final product. Engage in facilitated conversations with participants on what tensions they are navigating in their own schools, address how we’ve used the protocol this past year, and review lessons we’ve learned.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn how to think through crisis communications in a way that aligns with your school’s values.
- Learn what questions are important to ask as an institution when creating a similar protocol.
- Learn how to assess impact on various communities at your school.
- Presenters: Alegria Barclay, Lick-Wilmerding High School (CA); Rachel Freeman, The Nueva School (CA)
|
Communications and Advancement |
| Liberatory Education and the Role of Independent Schools: Four Possible Futures to Guide Strategy |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Many boards and school leaders are prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies to improve educational equity at their schools. All independent schools exist in a broader educational ecosystem. In what ways are current DEI efforts creating barriers or opportunities to foster liberatory education in the broader educational landscape? Examine four future scenarios of liberatory education to help you explore how independent school strategies might impact the movement toward liberatory education. Take this opportunity to reflect and think long term about your school’s DEI and other strategic efforts and the possibilities for broader, positive impact.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn how to consider your school’s DEI efforts as part of a larger, collective movement for liberatory education.
- Learn to use empathy profiles to deepen understanding of how your school’s DEI efforts impact the broader education ecosystem.
- Learn how to apply future scenarios to inspire strategies to link DEI and liberatory education.
- Presenters: Andrea Saveri, Saveri Consulting; Madeleine Rogin, The Step One School (CA)
|
Governance |
| Cultivating Community: The Board Leads the Way! |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: How do good governance and board culture impact the entire school community? Why is cultivating a strong, healthy board essential to building a positive, robust community at independent schools? Explore best practices in board governance, including the head of school/board chair partnership, board/head roles and responsibilities, board dynamics and communication, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Discuss how they set the tone for the kind of school community of which we all want to be a part. Gain tools for assessing and cultivating board culture and an understanding of the connection between board culture and school community.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Make the connection between good governance and its impact on the wider school community.
- Deepen your understanding of best practices in board governance, including diversity, equity, and inclusion principles, and their impact on the school community at large.
- Hear, share, and develop ideas about how to assess and address board culture and lead the school in cultivating community.
- Presenters: Scott Hardister and Julie Falk, French International School of Oregon (OR)
|
Governance |
| People Will Remember How You Made Them Feel |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Leaders in our schools are often deluged with complex issues of systems, schedules, and the tasks and events that are essential to keeping things running smoothly. But at the end of the day, the people in our communities are more likely to remember us not for what we did but for how we made them feel. Research shows that work climate is among the most powerful motivators for faculty and staff retention. Explore the ways in which the tools and practices of emotionally intelligent leadership can contribute to positive school climate and institutional flourishing.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Unpack the science of emotions, with a focus on emotional intelligence attributes.
- Explore the hallmarks of a practical framework for identifying various emotional intelligence styles.
- Understand ways to animate specific emotional intelligence practices in your work to drive positive outcomes in your school community.
- Presenters: Carrie Grimes, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
|
Leadership Development |
| Data-Informed Wellness: Creating a Collective Responsibility for Positive School Culture |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Hear the director of wellness and the director of institutional research from Gilman School present their yearlong collaboration to promote a well-being school culture through data-driven initiatives. The outcomes of this project were two-fold: They now have a concrete list of ideas for improving wellness at Gilman and also learned a lot about how people process information and the steps they must take before a solutions-oriented conversation can occur. Gain concrete action steps for kickstarting a wellness shift at your school and feel prepared for the reactions you might experience during the process.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Examine the typical arc of a data project that informs strategic wellness goals.
- Learn to anticipate and prepare for reactions to "unhappy data" and promote solutions-oriented discussions.
- Create an action plan with wellness goals to take back to your school.
- Presenters: Rachel Gorsky, Christina Kim, and Peter Kwiterovitch, Gilman School (MD)
|
Leadership Development |
| Six Insights into Academic Leadership: What We’ve Learned With and About Academic Leaders |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: As we launched the Association for Academic Leaders, we researched and refined our definitions of the competencies academic leaders need to help schools thrive in the future. We sought to answer the questions: How is the role of academic leadership evolving? How has the pandemic accelerated this evolution? Join us to share insights gleaned during three years of interaction and communication with independent school academic leaders. Our analysis includes data from survey responses, event participation feedback, and polling, along with the informal responses academic leaders had to the professional offerings we built around the topics.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Better understand how academic leaders’ roles have changed over the past three years.
- Identify the ways you can help academic leaders meet your school’s goals and values.
- Consider what kinds of support academic leaders at your school need and how you might provide that support.
- Presenters: Sarah Hanawald and Brad Rathgeber, One Schoolhouse (DC)
|
Leadership Development |
| Designing and Leading a Connected Framework for Professional Development |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Hear academic leaders from The Buckley School share their experience designing a professional development initiative framed around creating and strengthening community relationships. The Community Support and Engagement Initiative began with an inquiry project with Teachers College, Columbia University’s Klingenstein Institute, and was informed by the Learning for Leadership Framework. This pilot program involves four layers of engagement: individual, individual-supervisor, individual-colleagues, and school community. Learn strategies for gathering and analyzing data, designing a professional development initiative, and incorporating feedback for improvement, and get an opportunity to draft a professional development plan for your own organization.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand how practitioner-inquiry strategies and data-informed inquiry can prove valuable in developing programs within educational organizations.
- Discover the Learning for Leadership Framework as a tool for leading improvement processes in school settings.
- Design a professional development strategy for your organization using the tools and resources shared during the workshop.
- Presenters: Julie King and Robert McMahon, The Buckley School (NY)
|
Leadership Development |
| Vision for Tomorrow: Futures Thinking in Independent Schools |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: In this review of a recent research study conducted in partnership between Peabody College at Vanderbilt University and NAIS, learn about the field of futures thinking, how it is being used in independent schools, and how school leaders can adopt a futures thinking mindset to best position their schools for long-term success and sustainability. Hear findings from an original research study as well as specific recommendations for how school leaders can rethink our planning by adopting a futures thinking mindset.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn about the field of futures thinking, including associated methods of futures thinking.
- Discover how futures thinking can improve current planning and leadership practices.
- Learn about specific methods and approaches you can use to reinvigorate the strategic planning process.
- Presenters: Jared Clodfelter, Currey Ingram Academy (TN); Wade Tapp, Asheville Christian School (NC)
|
Leadership Development |
| In Flux: Leader and Learner Adaptability |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Join this workshop designed for teachers and leaders to learn with Jessica Flaxman and Clare Sisisky about their original doctoral research studies on cognitive and behavioral adaptability. Spend time defining and understanding your adaptive skills as an educator working in a constantly shifting leadership and learning environment. Engage in whole-group presentation, interactive, small-group discussion, and individual reflection to gain insight into the critical role of adaptability in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) and global educational contexts.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Highlight the criticality of adaptability as a core literacy for leaders and learners.
- Share original research and data from two recent doctoral studies on leadership and global education.
- Connect leaders and teachers around our own professional and personal adaptability.
- Presenters: Jessica Flaxman, Rye Country Day School (NY); Clare Sisisky, Global Education Benchmark Group
|
Leadership Development |
| Map Your Future |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: According to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report, a rapidly changing strategic and technological landscape is right in front of us. The complexity and speed of today's world highlights the need for independent schools to strengthen and exercise foresight and futures practice. Join us to learn from the future as it emerges and increase your capacity to scan for signals of change, stress test existing plans, and gain deeper insight into research areas affecting the education sector. Come and map out your future.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Increase your capacity to scan for drivers and signals of change.
- Stress test your existing plans.
- Gain deeper insight into research areas affecting the education sector.
- Presenters: Brett Jacobsen, The Mount Vernon School (GA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Faculty and Staff Hiring: A Concierge Approach |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: In the face of a national teacher shortage, how do we attract and retain the very best faculty and staff possible? If you believe that a great faculty is a key to your school's success, you must start thinking about your hiring practices differently. Come join in a conversation on some creative thinking around gaining a competitive edge in your hiring process. Hear how one school has moved to a concierge approach in faculty/staff hiring, providing assistance in every stage of the process—from the first point of contact to the first day on the job.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Get introduced to the concierge approach to hiring.
- Explore one model currently being used at a school.
- Share new and creative ways schools are approaching hiring.
- Presenters: David Faus, The Benjamin School (FL)
|
Management |
| Strategic Multicampus Schools: A National Research Study on Form and Performance |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Independent schools face an acute need for new business models. Friends Council on Education, in partnership with Rational Partners (with collaborative grants from EE Ford Foundation and BLBB Charitable), launched a national research project to survey, analyze, and report on the form and performance of schools that operate strategic multiple campuses (SMCS) in satellite, parallel, or coordinate arrangements, be they the product of collaboration, consolidation, or organic growth. The session will report on key findings, both quantitative and qualitative, in the strategy, economics, patterns, and potential of their novel approach to market position, student population, program design, and physical plant.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Get answers to fundamental questions on SMCS as to their form (structures, history, objectives, enrollment) and performance (financial and strategic).
- Explore the spectrum of forms (satellite, parallel, coordinate, shared) and the paths they took (organic growth, consolidation, or collaboration).
- Determine if your school, peers, and/or competitors might form a strategic multicampus school (SMCS) and how.
- Presenters: John Gulla, The Edward E. Ford Foundation; William Kummel, Rational Partners; Drew Smith, Friends Council on Education
|
Management |
| Retrofitting a Traditional School for Mastery Learning |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: A challenge for many mastery-curious independent schools is how to upend a paradigm of assessment, grading, and transcripts that has been in place for decades without alienating key constituents. Learn how Pomfret and Mercersburg have made significant strides toward a competency-based approach while remaining true to their schools' history, values, and culture. Join our interactive session to address how to generate a community-shared vision, build up a school's knowledge about what it can and should change, and establish a pace so that people don't fall off of the ride.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Know the key conditions for expedient-yet-patient change, so a school can ride the crest of the evidence-based wave.
- Get a clear sense of how to create a community-shared, evidence-based vision for teaching and learning.
- Develop a plan for how to encourage enthusiastic educators and help the skeptics.
- Presenters: John Bennett, Mercersburg Academy (PA); Gwyneth Connell, Pomfret School (CT)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Ready, Learner One: How We Built a "Real School" in the Cloud |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Rundle Studio (The Studio) is the first virtual school for students with complex learning needs in North America. The Studio is not a MOOC or a YouTube tutorial; it is a true school community in the cloud. At The Studio, all curriculum is delivered in a universally designed manner. The Studio engages its students in character, co-curricular, and in-school activities that you find at brick-and-mortar schools. At the root of The Studio’s success is a deep sense of connectivity and belonging for students and staff. We’ve taken education from the classroom to the metaverse.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand that a virtualized school can create community and learning opportunities that are similar, or better, than in-person learning.
- Teachers and leaders, embrace the positive aspects of a virtualized school for your students.
- Find out how you create a universally designed, virtualized experience so students with complex learning needs can excel.
- Presenters: Jason Rogers and John Wolfe, Rundle College
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Hacking the Future: Creating Social Justice Innovations |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Social justice hackathons and social enterprise development projects offer two novel ways to invigorate and dovetail diversity, equity, inclusion, identity, and belonging (DEIIB) work in independent schools with empathic design thinking and service learning. Social justice hackathons are innovation events where participants come together to think deeply and differently about a particular social problem in a community of color. Get insight into new service-learning experiences based on the nationwide HackBAC series of social justice hackathons created by the Black Alumni Collective, St. Andrew's Episcopal School, The D!Lab, and The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Get a plan for applying design thinking to the development of DEIB experiences in innovation and social justice.
- Explore the intersection between authentic forms of student engagement and innovative classroom practice.
- Develop templates for applying student creativity in the service of DEIIB work.
- Presenters: Charles James, Delonte Egwuatu, and Husam Shabazz, St. Andrew's Episcopal School (MD)
|
The Student Experience |
| The Importance of Training Faculty and Staff on Basic Mental Health Interventions |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: In a time when mental health conditions like anxiety and depression are on the rise, faculty and staff at schools need a basic knowledge and understanding of how to intervene to help students. Join us to focus on helping school administrators understand why it is so important for those not in the counseling field to better understand anxiety, depression, self-harm, panic attacks, and more. Go over simple interventions for all ages that adults in our school communities can safely and confidently use.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn to create a presentation to use in your workplace that helps colleagues better understand anxiety and depression.
- Evaluate how anxiety and depression look different at different school ages.
- Create a theme that gives you steps to help your unique student population.
- Presenters: Janani Buford, JG Bailey, and Samantha Bosco, Charlotte Country Day School (NC)
|
The Student Experience |
| Students of Color as School Leaders for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Decision-Making |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: School leaders, take this opportunity to reflect on how you are partnering with students of color to make DEI program and policy decisions. Are students passively receiving information, or are they empowered to be agents for change? How many students of color have these opportunities? Using the patterns of partnership framework, weigh power dynamics and explore ways to welcome students to the proverbial table to make decisions that affect their experiences in independent schools. Leave with tools to help you amplify student voice in your school.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Identify ways students can play a greater role in DEI decision-making.
- Design a plan to increase how student voice gets leveraged in your school.
- Discuss strategies to establish trust so students of color can speak without fear of repercussions.
- Presenters: Janay Eccles, Appleby College (Canada)
|
The Student Experience |
| From Lessons to Experiences: A New Vision for Course Design and Development |
1 |
Thursday, February 23,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: How do we design for experiences and not just instruction? How do we create courses that are outcomes-driven, goal-oriented, and human-centered? Join us for a deep dive into three primary threads embedded in Global Online Academy’s design process: focusing on usability and accessibility, starting with backward design, and collaborating within a responsive process. Consider how these strategies might level up your own learning design game as an educator. Get challenged to go beyond content-driven course creation in a move to more thoughtful, inclusive design practices.
- Block: 1 (Thursday, February 23, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Apply usability and accessibility standards as foundational steps in curriculum design.
- Formulate strategies for backward design applications in course creation.
- Construct feedback loops that involve teacher, colleague, and student input.
- Presenters: Amanda Burch, Global Online Academy (CO); Jennifer Bray, Providence Day School (NC) and Global Online Academy (NC)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Head on Swivel: Communicating About DEIB Efforts in the Face of Pushback |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: An assault on diversity work in schools is underway and a small number of independent school families are voicing their dissent about programs that would have hardly been controversial in the pre-pandemic era. It is important for diversity directors, teachers, and administrators to understand the threat posed by the media amplification of this dissent and to work together with their communications team to neutralize knee-jerk reactions to inclusive education within their schools before they have a chance to upend crucial programs that students need and deserve.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the threat posed to school diversity initiatives through coordinated media scrutiny.
- Learn collaboration strategies for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) and communications leaders to use in order to advance DEIB work in schools.
- Understand the gulf between what is really happening in our classrooms and what families may think is happening.
- Presenters: Jan Abernathy and Naledi Semela, The Browning School (NY)
|
Communications and Advancement |
| Staying in the Game |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Many independent schools experienced a bump in enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through collaborative teamwork, Saddle River Day School leveraged this bump as a springboard for sustained enrollment growth, resulting in a 40% enrollment increase over the past three years. Hear about what we've named the TEAM Principle from members of the school’s administrative team as we identify the core strategies that led to the highest enrollment in our school's history. Hear innovative ideas about how we plan to continue driving numbers up to stay in the game for years to come.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Identify and understand key components that contribute to sustained enrollment growth in a post-pandemic environment.
- Demonstrate how teamwork can enhance any strategic priority.
- Realize the importance of a healthy work environment to foster innovation.
- Presenters: Lynn McCormack, Jalaj Desai, Geoff Bowman, Laura Hollis, and Anastasia Kelly, Saddle River Day School (NJ)
|
Management |
| The State of Financial Aid |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: What are the main goals of schools' financial aid programs? How well funded, trained, and equipped are financial aid professionals to deliver the outcomes they seek? What key practices and concepts influence how effective practitioners feel about their work? What factors tend to drive satisfaction in the work? Join a conversation about where the industry is finding success and how we can identify its most critical challenges and needs moving forward.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Evaluate your financial aid investment and outcomes in the context of national snapshots.
- Identify where to focus leadership efforts to improve satisfaction and the impact of financial aid professionals in your school.
- Pinpoint the greatest challenges and needs that administrators cite as most critical to being successful.
- Presenters: Mark Mitchell, NAIS
|
Management |
| Getting on the Same Side: How to Optimize the Parent-School Partnership |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: School communities thrive when there is a positive parent-school partnership. Yet educators sometimes struggle to create this sense of partnership with parents. To be collaborative and effective with parents requires the know-how and skills to bring clarity and compassion to parent interactions and communication, especially in challenging situations. Few educators have such training. Join us as a family therapist/school consultant and school head team up to share proven approaches, including a communication toolbox to optimize parent partnerships. For more insight into supporting parents, receive a complimentary copy of the presenters’ new book, Raising Kids: Your Essential Guide to Everyday Parenting.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Identify the key elements of an effective parent-school partnership.
- Build communication skills through training (including a “toolbox”) for partnering effectively with parents.
- Define practical approaches: boundaries, roles, and language essential to building, repairing, and strengthening collaboration with parents.
- Presenters: Olaf Jorgenson, Almaden Country Day School (CA); Sheri Glucoft Wong, private practice
|
Management |
| Revamping the Curriculum: Advancing Your School’s DEI Mission Through New Course Offerings |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Following the protests in the summer of 2020, many independent schools were called to question their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which often resulted in new course offerings, specifically within history and social science departments. However, this left educators with many questions, such as: how do teachers and department chairs recognize a need for a new course offering? What are strategies to address hesitance or reticence from school administration? How do you develop a course based around identity and experience when the educator does not speak to these identities and experiences from the “I” perspective?
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Identify and outline the need at your school for a new course offering.
- Describe the contours of how your course will address your school’s DEI mission.
- Share anticipated challenges and solutions in the rolling out of a new course offering.
- Presenters: Hasani Sinclair, Brentwood School (CA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Grit and Resilience: The Interplay Between Systems and Self |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Grit and resilience are universal human traits that we employ to fulfill goals and manage challenges. These traits have received attention in the popular and scientific communities, especially in a world reckoning with uncertainty and grave inequities in our societies and systems. Join us to integrate the breadth and depth of current research and foundational systems frameworks to examine grit and resilience as they impact individuals’ personal strengths and skills within the context of systems, culture, and community. Learn practical strategies to support your students in authentically and healthfully promoting grit and resilience in all areas of life.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Examine current research and systems frameworks for understanding grit and resilience.
- Get practical insights for integrating research-based strategies for promoting grit and resilience.
- Address and clarify critical concerns about the use and misuse of grit and resilience in diverse populations in school contexts.
- Presenters: Danielle Scorrano and Jonathan Rosenshine, The Windward Institute (NY)
|
The Student Experience |
| How Can Schools Build Safe, Productive, and Affirming Cultures? |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Through action frameworks and school data, explore why and how learning outcomes improve when schools build cultures that are safe, productive, and affirming for all community members. Using Valor Collegiate Academies (TN) as a case study, discover how culture building can flatten inequitable hierarchies and spark purpose-driven learning. Valor is a charter network that has developed Compass, an advisory program that is also a tool for building faculty culture. Independent schools can learn from high-performing charter schools, particularly around bringing more emotion to learning.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Explore the theory and science of purpose through action frameworks, school data, and a single school study.
- Explore a purpose clarification process, which helps teachers explore their “why” and build deeper relationships with students.
- Investigate why safe and equitable community building leads to higher learning outcomes, as evidenced via multiple data sets.
- Presenters: Ross Wehner, World Leadership School; Taryn Sprayberry, Valor Collegiate Academies
|
The Student Experience |
| Managing Student Needs and School Needs During a Health Crisis |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Have you seen an increase in health needs, especially mental health, in your student body? Are you interested in transitioning from a reactive to a proactive approach when it comes to your students' health needs? Learn how one school took a look at itself and found a systematic approach through collaboration, data collecting, transparency to manage student health needs, and the school's needs to provide an excellent academic experience. This workshop is best for teachers, learning support, counselors, deans, division heads, and anyone interested in students' health needs.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn how to create a data management system to track and predict health and wellness needs.
- Learn how to balance school demands and student health needs with compassion, research, and communication.
- Learn how to move away from triaging to a systems-thinking approach to student physical and mental health needs.
- Presenters: Lisa Culbertson, The Hockaday School (TX)
|
The Student Experience |
| Developing Student Agency by Cultivating Community and Increasing Student Engagement |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Explore cultivating community and student engagement through the lens of student agency. Research tells us that developing learning opportunities designed to foster student agency should be a priority to prepare students for the future. Join this interactive session to highlight examples from Woodward Academy’s Ethical Dilemmas in Science and Technology senior capstone course. Learn how to engage students in challenging learning experiences that incorporate elements of student agency such as decision-making, problem-solving, and student thinking. Share a toolbox of examples of what developing student agency looks like in a classroom and how to encourage its development.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Rethink student engagement through the lens of student agency.
- Gain an understanding of how agency has been infused in our Ethical Dilemmas in Science and Technology capstone.
- Contribute to a list of ideas that you can use immediately in the classroom to foster student agency.
- Presenters: Connie White and Nigel Traylor, Woodward Academy (GA)
|
The Student Experience |
| Our Words Matter: Creating Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Safety for All Students with Teacher Language |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Words form the foundation on which teaching, learning, and relationships are built. Take this opportunity to assess, reflect upon, and improve your language patterns as an educator. Our words and tone can increase academic engagement, support positive behavior, and build affirmative communities. No matter your role, all educators communicate with students and reflect on how to be more purposeful, genuine, and inclusive with our language.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Increase your teacher language proficiency.
- Identify your strengths and areas for growth in teacher language.
- Set change goals for your teacher language.
- Presenters: Kerry O'Grady, Center for Responsive Schools
|
The Student Experience |
| The Hutchins Institute for Social Justice: A Case Study for Social Justice in Secondary Education |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Examine the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice at The Lawrenceville School as a case study for innovative approaches to equity, inclusion, and justice at independent schools. The Hutchins Institute for Social Justice represents a new model for teaching and implementing histories and principles of social justice in secondary education. Like its university counterparts, the Hutchins Institute is a multidisciplinary academic hub supporting faculty and student research, programming, and experiential and project-based learning about social justice as a subject of inquiry, a method of analysis, and a set of ethical practices.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn innovative and new developments in justice and equity education.
- Get some road maps for developing social justice programs.
- Highlight important challenges and opportunities for social justice programs at independent schools.
- Presenters: Zaheer Ali, The Lawrenceville School (NJ)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Measuring How Students Are Thriving and Flourishing |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Join us to demonstrate effective collaboration between administrators and trustees on designing a research tool to ensure that students are thriving and flourishing. Review longitudinal data as well as strategies for how a school community can measure social connection, participation, and feelings of confidence while making sure the student experience is consistent across racial and ethnic groups, religious affiliation, LGBTQ status, income levels, and geographic diversity.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn effective collaboration between trustees and administration.
- Learn data analysis and action planning.
- Understand student experiences through a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) lens.
- Presenters: Fran Bisselle and Lisa Mortimer, Hathaway Brown School (OH)
|
The Student Experience |
| Passing the Baton: Navigating Governance, Leadership, Diversity, and Social Justice in Headship Transitions |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Leading a transition from a long-serving head is challenging in the best of circumstances. Add a return to on-campus learning during the pandemic, a “[email protected]” Instagram account, a search for an interim, and a search for a new head capable of guiding the school forward in its commitment to DEIJ and mission, and the challenges become exponential. Hear from two trustees, an interim head, and the new head to learn the ins and outs of transition and collaboration. Trustees, experienced heads considering interim duties, and individuals seeking headship for the first time will benefit from this workshop.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Trustees, learn to transition a school from a long-serving head to an interim to a new (hopefully) long-serving head.
- Experienced heads, learn the unique challenges interim heads face as well as how to be an effective interim.
- New heads, learn how to transition into a school following an interim and what you might consider when facing challenges.
- Presenters: Nadine Tanio, Serita Young, John Huber, and Clarke Weatherspoon, The Waverly School (CA)
|
Governance |
| The Perfect Time Is Now: Dynamic Strategic Planning for an Imperfect World |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Change is now the norm. While the height of the pandemic is behind us, each year brings something new: record head of school transitions, community building in a polarized world, demographic shifts, and enrollment challenges. Schools may be hesitant to pursue long-term planning efforts, yet disruption presents tremendous opportunity to reimagine the power of dynamic strategy for our institutions. Redefine the goals and function of strategic planning with a new framework that informs a strategic process—one built on ongoing community engagement, with aligned priorities and work across the school.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the purpose of strategic planning, its components, its benefits, and its limitations.
- Learn how to use a dynamic strategic planning framework to embrace the opportunities presented by disruptive events.
- Develop implementation techniques for strategic plans that generate buy-in, build community, and align efforts across the school.
- Presenters: Scott Moran and Christina Hultholm, City and Country School (NY)
|
Governance |
| Stories and Tables: Cultivating Faculty and Staff Belonging as a Foundation for DEIJ |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Stories can be a powerful tool for cultivating the empathy, relationships, and psychological safety necessary for meaningful diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) work. Learn two strategies for building community and belonging with faculty and staff: an annual storytelling panel (Voices of Langley) and a discussion protocol used to open personnel meetings (Community Tables). Over the course of a school year, these approaches transformed how faculty and staff rated their sense of belonging, especially for employees of color. Share lessons learned and helpful resources. Leave with tools that you can use to implement similar strategies in your school.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn two strategies for building community and belonging with faculty and staff.
- Understand how stories provide a powerful tool for cultivating the empathy, relationships, and psychological safety necessary for DEIJ.
- Leave with specific tools and resources that you can use to implement similar strategies in your school.
- Presenters: Sarah Beck and LaToya Needham, The Langley School (VA)
|
Leadership Development |
| The First Four Years: Supporting Teachers New to Your School |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: The first four years are the most vital in determining a teacher's success at a new school. With that in mind, schools need to develop systems that are both transparent and supportive for those teachers. Share an overview of our four-year scope and sequence and dive more deeply into some replicable highlights. In addition to learning about our model, take time to reflect on your own. We encourage anyone evaluating or supporting teachers to attend.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Discuss the special situation of teachers in their first four years at a school.
- Learn effective practices in teacher onboarding, evaluation, and education.
- Examine your own teacher support structures with an eye toward possible revisions.
- Presenters: Jessica Romero and Sarah Williamson-Broadman, Village Community School (NY)
|
Leadership Development |
| The Sustainability of Small Independent Schools |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Small independent schools face unique challenges that larger schools do not encounter or when they do face the same challenges, the impact may be greater due to the school’s size. Hear a summary of our research on small schools (200 students or fewer), conducted through a partnership between NAIS and Vanderbilt University. Cover the landscape of small NAIS-member schools in 2022, as well as an overview of what some small independent school leaders have done to help their schools become or remain sustainable in a competitive education marketplace. Join this presentation targeted toward small independent school leaders.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the landscape of small independent schools.
- Recognize the challenges that small independent schools face.
- Identify promising approaches and strategies to help schools become or remain sustainable.
- Presenters: Scott Collins, University School of Nashville (TN); Kristine Varney, Norfolk Collegiate School (VA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Navigating the Culture War: School Culture Matters More Than Ever |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Over the last few years, schools have experienced substantial challenges from parents regarding operational decisions (masking, social distancing, and remote learning) and academic content, and also tense interactions among parents, teachers, and administrators about discipline, grading, and other issues. Parents have petitioned boards to remove the head of school, trustees, and certain employees. They have gone underground to vent their frustrations to likeminded individuals. At the same time, schools are having a hard time retaining quality and experienced administrators and teachers. The speakers will lead an interactive discussion about realistic and manageable ways to address these concerns.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn how to establish expectations regarding parent behavior.
- Learn how to manage difficult communications among parents, teachers, and administrators that support the community.
- Work together to create a policy and enrollment provision that outlines expectations and consequences.
- Presenters: Suzanne Bogdan, Fisher Phillips; Whitney Walters-Sachs, Pine Crest School (FL)
|
Leadership Development |
| Trust-Based Observations: Maximize Teaching and Learning Improvement While Creating a Culture of Trust |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: What if the narrative on teacher observations changed? What if observations were actually enjoyable experiences? What if observations were about authentic teaching—not the teaching on steroids that accompanies the pre-observation conference model? What if reflective conversations ended up being authentic collegial dialog on practice that resulted in an embrace of risk-taking to grow practice? What if the observation form was so specific that teachers regularly said it caused them to think about what to get better at without even being told? This forms Trust-Based Observations and the results are improved teaching and learning and a culture of trust.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn how to build trusting relationships between school leaders and teachers through regular classroom visits and specific leader actions.
- Become familiar with the Trust-Based Observation model, including practical tools for documenting observations and keeping effective records.
- Learn how one school implemented TBO and hear and see the results of this transformation.
- Presenters: Melissa Sherman, The Fay School (TX); Craig Randall, author
|
Leadership Development |
| Double Binds and Concrete Walls: Women Navigating the K-12 Education Leadership Pipeline |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Women’s leadership programs for aspiring independent school administrators abound, yet they tend to focus on a monolithic form of women’s leadership. The robust research on identity and leadership can enable individuals to understand the relationship between individual agency and systemic barriers—a key understanding that is often not made clear to women ascending to leadership. Join us as we enable aspiring leaders and those who hire them to understand how the pipeline works and how to navigate it in a way that creates greater access to a more diverse set of leaders.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the leadership pipeline as a system.
- Explore how discrimination operates within that system.
- Find ways to move through the pipeline authentically and to disrupt systemic bias in context.
- Presenters: Sarah Odell, The Hewitt School (NY); Julie Kallio, Breck School (MN); Loris Adams, National Cathedral School (DC); Jennie Weiner, The University of Connecticut Neag School of Education; Barbara Chase, Carney, Sandoe & Associates
|
Leadership Development |
| Reimagining Wellness: A Panel Discussion on Transforming School Culture Toward Well-Being for All |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Schools nationwide are experiencing the highest rate of teacher burnout, an uptick in student behavioral challenges, and a youth mental health crisis exacerbated by the global pandemic. Our challenges also present an opportunity to reimagine what a healthy, thriving school community can be. As we move away from traditional models of social-emotional learning and support, hear about innovative models of schoolwide wellness from a panel of directors of wellness from PK-12 independent schools around the nation. Learn more about RULER, Authentic Connections, Responsive Classroom, MindUp, and Challenge Success, and walk away with next steps to take at your school.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Hear about innovative school models of wellness for students, faculty, and parents/guardians.
- Walk away as an empowered educator to see yourself as a wellness leader and create community spaces that support wellness.
- Begin to imagine an action plan to support your schoolwide wellness initiatives.
- Presenters: Christina Kim, Gilman School (MD); Rebecca Heller, Viewpoint School (CA); Cheryl Mitchell, The Kinkaid School (TX); Kavita Ajmere, Oakwood School (CA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Trauma-Informed Risk Management: Harm-Reduction Strategies for Navigating Student-on-Student Misconduct Claims |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: This interactive program led by former prosecutors introduces trauma-informed management strategies aimed at reducing harm across the school community. Responding to allegations of bullying or sexual misconduct goes well beyond discipline and can quickly devolve into a crisis. Pulling from real examples, discuss legal considerations, communication strategies, investigative procedures, and managing potential fallout. Discover why a humanistic response that promotes student and community well-being is always the right approach.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Get introduced to trauma-informed principles and learn what a trauma-informed response to misconduct claims looks like in practice.
- Learn how de-escalation strategies can mitigate the risk of litigation and reputational harm in student-on-student misconduct cases.
- Learn common pitfalls to avoid when communicating about misconduct with affected students, parents, and the larger school community.
- Presenters: Rena Paul, Margaret Gandy, Alcalaw LLP; Rahel Bayar, The Bayar Group; Chia-Chee Chiu, St.John's School (TX)
|
Management |
| How a Tuition Reset Inspired Trust, Nurtured Community, and Increased Enrollment |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: The New School, an ECE-12 day school in northwest Arkansas, designed, marketed, and implemented a tuition reset, effectively reducing tuition at all levels and making tuition levels consistent across K-12. This collaborative process—among TNS administration, trustees, and the SchoolCraft Digital team—was in response to declining enrollment and input from families. While we met with some opposition, to date we have reduced attrition by over 50% and increased enrollment by 24%. Come hear our story and get an opportunity to reflect on your school and market.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Hear a success story of listening to constituents, reducing tuition, increasing enrollment, and embracing the momentum of growth.
- Get curious about how to balance local market indicators with national trends, data, and best practice.
- Get challenged to nurture a climate of trust among trustees, administrators, head of school, and a marketing company.
- Presenters: Nancy Lang and Erin Goerke, The New School (AR); Christopher Mitchell and Jesse Meadow, SchoolCraft Digital
|
Communications and Advancement |
| Help Wanted: Hiring Trends Post-COVID Fellowship Workshop |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Explore the question of how the current workplace landscape has impacted hiring and retention. We will share trend data and case studies to help schools thrive in a competitive hiring environment.
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: Fellowship Workshop
- Presenters: Eve Andrias, Rodeph Sholom School (NY); Gara Field, Moses Brown School (RI); Adrienne Forgette, Hutchison School (TN); Dana Lyles (LA); Melissa Perkins, Gulliver Prep (FL)
|
Fellowship |
| Mission Possible: Using Your Mission for Civil Discourse Fellowship Workshop |
2 |
Thursday, February 23,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Using research data from our own schools and those around the country, we will answer this question: In an era of increased polarization, how can NAIS member schools leverage their mission statements to promote critical thinking and civil discourse skills?
- Block: 2 (Thursday, February 23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: Fellowship Workshop
- Presenters: Liz Gray, Belmont Day School (MA); Eric Johnson, Community School of Naples (FL); Laurie Riffe, St. Andrew's School (FL); Sara Stephenson, Ashley Hall (SC)
|
Fellowship |
| Beyond Strategic Planning—Progress Design for a New Era |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Get the context and tools you need to gain a clearer picture of the future and to develop an effective strategy for a new era. Share insights on practical ways for heads of school, their boards, and leadership teams to approach problem framing and to engage in strategic design that supports long-term differentiation.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Presenters: Tim Fish, NAIS
|
Leadership Development |
| Affirming Schools for Transgender Youth: Lessons Learned in a Yearlong Partnership Between Independent School Leaders and the Gender Clinic at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Gender expansive children are members of today’s classrooms, yet teachers feel woefully unprepared in affirming practices related to gender-inclusivity and gender-diverse students. Knowing that the number of students openly identifying as transgender has been increasing, we must create cultures of belonging and affirming environments for transgender students in our schools. Based on a summer intensive workshop collaboration between the presenters and the Gender and Sexuality Development Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, cover an introduction to basic gender-diverse terminology, concrete ways to make classrooms more inclusive, and some real-life scenarios to think through.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Build an understanding of basic gender terminology.
- Learn concrete strategies to create affirming school and classroom environments.
- Practice supporting transgender students in a variety of real-life scenarios.
- Presenters: Elizabeth Elizardi, The Agnes Irwin School (PA); Amanda Chang, Delaware Valley Friends School (PA)
|
The Student Experience |
| Continuing Work on Demand-Side Innovation: Three Distinct Schools Collaborate for Shared Growth |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: After participating in the NAIS Strategy Lab’s workshop: Demand-Side Innovation for Enhancing Enrollment, three schools decided to form a working group. This has allowed us to reflect on the changes each school makes to solve specific challenges that need to be addressed with critical friends. Nichols School, Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain, and Davidson Day School are each distinct from one another in geographic location, composition, program, and market position. We are spending this year implementing the Jobs-to-Be-Done framework at various points of the enrollment funnel and documenting our progress together with NAIS.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the Jobs-to-Be-Done-Framework and its application to enrollment management.
- See the benefits of professional network collaboration and a critical friends model while implementing change.
- See what forms demand-side (rather than supply-side) changes can look like at different schools solving different challenges.
- Presenters: Peter Wickman, Nichols School (NY); Andrew Bishop, The Alexander Dawson School (NV); Megan Gray, Davidson Day School (NC)
|
Communications and Advancement |
| Own It! Parents Are Our Paying Customers |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: As independent schools, we prefer to think of ourselves as anything but a business. However, the “trust us” approach of the past no longer resonates with parents, many of whom demand immediate response times, personalized experiences, and proven returns on their financial and emotional investment. Forward-thinking schools must look to out-of-industry customer service models to justify that we are worth the expense. Are you ready for the next step? Join us to debunk misperceptions such as “customer service means giving ‘A’ grades” and examine how independent schools can offer an exceptional “customer” experience and increase enrollment as a result.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the demographics and psychographics of today’s “customer” and why the “trust us” model is no longer relevant.
- Look at powerful examples from corporate America to define what customer service looks like in independent schools.
- Outline next steps for getting started at your school, including collecting relevant data and beginning the shift in mentality.
- Presenters: Nija Majmudar Meyer, Woodward Academy (GA)
|
Communications and Advancement |
| Polarity Maps Will Change Your World in the Boardroom and at the Leadership Table |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Polarity mapping can be utilized to lead in the boardroom, leadership table, faculty meetings, and division meetings. Board chairs, heads of school, assistant heads of school, division directors, and department chairs can use polarity mapping at every level to lead change, manage dilemmas, and engage all voices, including polarized voices. Polarity mapping is used across all types of industries and leaders can take home a tool that you can put to use immediately.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- In a polarized society, learn how polarity maps can be used to lead change, manage dilemmas, and engage all voices.
- Learn strategies for implementing polarity mapping at the next board meeting or leadership team meeting.
- Get hands-on experience practicing polarity mapping so you can put it to use when you leave Vegas.
- Presenters: Tracie Catlett, Greensboro Day School (NC); Christopher Jones, Cannon School (NC); Gardner Barrier, Forsyth Country Day School (NC)
|
Governance |
| Board-Head Misalignment Is an Accident Waiting to Happen |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Never let a good crisis go to waste! Using the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, examine the alignment of understanding between heads of school and board chairs to key constructs of independent school governance through the lenses of separation of governance and management activities, maintaining the confidentiality and trust of the board room, the relationship between the board and the head of school, maintaining a strategic mindset, and general board operations. This workshop includes a highly interactive component that helps school leaders classify crises and craft templates for solutions.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand different types of crises that impact independent schools.
- Deepen your understanding of the constructs of effective independent school governance.
- Working together, develop templates for solutions to crises you face.
- Presenters: Damian Kavanagh, MISBO; Aggie Malter, PAISBOA
|
Governance |
| A Seat at Every Table: Beyond the Token Trustee |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Designed for trustees and school administrators who work on governance issues, join us to discover how to diversify your boards without tokenizing trustees from underrepresented identity groups. Utilizing small-group discussions of real scenarios, explore the challenges that these trustees can face and how being the "only one" in a powerful group can be an isolating and alienating experience. Discover key strategies to move beyond relying on certain trustees for representation to a more inclusive model for board membership.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Recognize ways trustees may unintentionally marginalize or isolate peers from underrepresented identities.
- Learn to how to look beyond identity to unlock the value that these trustees can provide to all board committees.
- Learn from one another the successes and road bumps to diversifying a board.
- Presenters: Jan Abernathy and Naledi Semela, The Browning School (NY)
|
Governance |
| Cultivating Opportunities to Connect, Belong, and Contribute While Onboarding New Faculty |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: How can we meet the radically diverse strengths and needs that each new community member brings to the table? Hear leaders from five independent schools share lessons learned in our various roles in designing structures, systems, and programming to integrate new faculty into our communities while celebrating the individual strengths that each brings. Leave with a host of strategies to aid in revising and implementing an effective onboarding program. These strategies fall under our theory of three action categories: building strong connections, respecting adult learners, and offering structured and unstructured opportunities for norm-referencing.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn what structures and processes support an onboarding process based on the principles of norm-referencing, andragogy, and relationship building.
- Learn how to design onboarding to help new faculty experience what teaching excellence looks like at your individual institution.
- Learn how to center the new teacher and their strengths in the orientation process.
- Presenters: Allison Schultz, Episcopal Academy (PA); Julie Rust, St. Andrew's Episcopal Academy (MS); Tim Betzala, Pacific Ridge School (CA); Ali Baran, The Park School (MD); Laura Farmer, Colorado Academy (CO)
|
Leadership Development |
| Using Innovative Organizational Change to Create New Paths for Teacher Leadership |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Opportunities for faculty to exercise and hone their leadership skills can be few and far between if individuals are not ready for a full jump into administration. Come learn how one school restructured our organizational chart away from traditional division director roles to open up new possibilities and energize highly talented and motivated teacher-leaders. This is particularly helpful for smaller schools and elementary schools, which typically don't have department chair positions, where there may be a sense of talented potential leaders being "stuck" with no path for their next step except to move to another institution.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn how one school shifted our organizational model to open up new paths for teacher-leaders.
- Reflect on your current faculty and whether the aspirations of future leaders are effectively recognized and encouraged.
- Contemplate what innovative organizational shifts might work at your school to support faculty leadership growth.
- Presenters: Julie Galles and LeLoni Bass, The Wesley School (CA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Cultivating and Activating Resilience in Independent School Leadership During Times of Turbulence |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: As leaders, we constantly prove our value. Now more than ever before, circumstances in our schools and society require us to physically, emotionally, and spiritually negotiate challenges and expectations, let alone our value, worth, and excellence as leaders. Explore resilience as an existential concept to understand and attack threats to our sense of worth, agency, and excellence as leaders utilizing Southwick’s and Charney’s (2018) 10-step resilience framework. Join us as we co-create community, strategies, and urgency to enact the resilience we need to bring our full selves to our leadership in independent schools.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Gain an understanding of the concept of resiliency as an existential component of independent school leadership in turbulent times.
- Explore current and future threats impacting the sense of value and worth independent school leaders feel.
- Co-create strategies and support networks to enact the Southwick and Charney 10-step resilience model for independent school leaders.
- Presenters: Gene Batiste, Dwight-Englewood School (NJ)
|
Leadership Development |
| Homegrown Heads: Succession Planning in Independent Schools |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: There has been a growing trend in shorter headship tenures and increased unexpected head transitions. These transitions can be incredibly difficult on all areas of school life. Succession planning is one initiative that can help schools weather the unexpected. Hiring from within has many benefits. Hear from Peter Mason on what he has learned in his research and head search experience and from Gretchen Forsyth, an internal hire for head of school, on why an internal hire might be right for you and get tips for making a smooth transition.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand research on succession planning.
- Identify key skills to develop in future school leaders.
- Learn tips for a smooth transition.
- Presenters: Gretchen Forsyth, Glen Urquhart School (MA); Peter Mason, Creosote Affects/Glen Urquhart School (MA)
|
Leadership Development |
| The Leading Edge: Where Mission Meets Market |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: How do small schools thrive? Ian Symmonds highlights the sweet spot where market needs intersect with school mission. Review trends impacting education and identify differences between red ocean and blue ocean strategy to think beyond accepted boundaries that dictate the way we compete. For example, Wheeling Country Day School used COVID-19 as an accelerant to develop a new revenue center to sustain the school and evolve student impact. As a small school in a declining market, WCDS has become an innovative disruptor by leveraging technology to deliver specialized tutoring services through the out-of-school network.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Identify trends affecting possible school growth in your own school.
- Understand why a school might develop a growth scenario.
- Understand blue ocean strategy and the action steps to reach that vision.
- Presenters: Elizabeth Hofreuter, Wheeling Country Day School (WV) and Ian Symmonds & Associates; Ian Symmonds, Ian Symmonds & Associates; Luke Hladek, Wheeling Country Day School (WV)
|
Management |
| Hiring with Dignity: An Equity-Centered Approach to Recruiting and Retaining Top Talent |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: In the wake of the pandemic, the Great Resignation, and the Great Reshuffle, our school communities have been in a season of transformation and transition. Most notably, schools have experienced a decrease in retention of BIPOC faculty, earlier retirements, and an increased need for hiring. Indeed, our school communities are not immune to the impact of an employment crisis fueled by the pandemic and “grass is greener” thinking. Knowing this, it is incumbent upon our institutions to shift our hiring practices from reactive to proactive, from cookie-cutter to responsive, and from traditional to futurist, grounded in DEIJB.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Fully understand the impact of the pandemic on our school communities and how it's affected recruitment and retention.
- Learn how to create a culture of dignity where external and internal candidates’ humanity is honored before, during, and after a search.
- Learn how to hire with dignity and improve recruitment and retention of top talent with an equity-centered approach.
- Presenters: Mikael Yisrael and Keisha Hirlinger, Abington Friends School (PA)
|
Management |
| Leading Competency-Based Learning Initiatives |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: In Grading for Equity, Joe Feldman makes the case that traditional grading schemes “…[are] a recipe for inequality” (2009, p. 41). Competency-based education is an approach to learning that ensures all learners develop explicitly defined, measurable, and transferable skills by making continuous progress toward competency. Get a brief overview of competency-based education and then dive into an interactive review of one school’s journey. Take the opportunity to consider strategies for change management and to chart a course for your own school’s work.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Explore the what and the why of competency-based teaching and assessment as well as challenges associated with implementation.
- Understand approaches you might take in leading large-scale initiatives and how best to respond to inevitable roadblocks.
- Develop a mission-based why for competency-based education and consider what a 3- to 5-year plan might entail.
- Presenters: Stella Beale and KaTrina Wentzel, Marin Academy (CA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Conflict, Cooperation, and Connectedness: Leveraging Cross-Disciplinary Curricular Design to Immerse Students in Global Critical Thinking |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Explore how five middle school educators integrated their content areas to support the themes of a driving text, Bomb: the Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon (Sheinkin, 2012). Learn about the programming our students engaged with around World War II, narrative nonfiction, introductory chemistry and physics, information literacy, and the research process. Discover how we leaned into divisive topics where educators know student learning can reach deep levels. Examine structures for effective and efficient faculty collaboration along with dynamic tech tools to streamline this partnership.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Explore an example of a classroom support structure in order to navigate divisive topics across any discipline or school division.
- Learn how to intentionally incorporate information literacy and research skills from the inception to the completion of a unit.
- Discover equivalent texts, global issues, and scientific concepts and how to weave them together in purposeful ways to deepen understanding.
- Presenters: Christy Mulhollem, Jon Riddle, Stephanie Simon, Ruth Neely, and Lindsay Downs, Sewickley Academy (PA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Listening to the Buddhists in Our Backyard: An Asset-Based Approach to Civic Engagement |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: How can independent schools engage with local communities in ways that center their voices and teach our students how to listen and ask better questions? Address these questions by focusing on an immersive, 10-week project called Listening to the Buddhists in Our Backyard that was undertaken by a group of seniors in the Workshop at Phillips Academy. Learn more about this listening-first approach to civic engagement that foregrounds the wisdom and resilience of immigrant religious communities in ways that may not always be emphasized in classroom learning or more traditional community service projects.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn about a listening pedagogy that centers the lives and experiences of immigrant community members.
- Spend time reflecting on your own local community and ways you can forge deeper curricular connections.
- See how efforts to reimagine the grammar of schooling can lead to transformative learning experiences for students.
- Presenters: Andrew Housiaux, Chenxing Han, and Melissa Damasceno, Phillips Academy (MA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Student Misconduct: Apologies, Informal Resolutions, and Other Alternatives to Investigations |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: When students report misconduct, they often want the offending student to assume accountability for their actions and to apologize—but not to be punished. There are indeed times when the consequences for misconduct can be more educative rather than punitive. What alternative steps might a school take to resolve the matter? Is restorative justice a good idea? What is restorative justice? How should apologies be handled? Join Dublin School Dean of Students Carl Anhalt and attorney Brian Garrett for a discussion on how to approach student discipline effectively and creatively.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the difference between teachable moments and the need to impose discipline.
- Understand that an apology requires careful facilitation and may not be appropriate in all situations.
- Learn about restorative justice concepts and when they may be appropriate to implement.
- Presenters: Brian Garrett, McLane Middleton; Carl Anhalt, Dublin School (NH)
|
The Student Experience |
| Attending to Educator and Student Resilience: Best Practices Derived from Survey Findings and Firsthand Experience |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Since early 2020, rates of student anxiety and depression and educator burnout have risen significantly. To retain educators and protect student well-being, independent school leaders must proactively build supportive environments. Learn about the current state of well-being in independent schools, understand the modifiable aspects of school life most closely linked with resilience, and discover how to promote best practices within your own community. Hear Quinton Walker, head of the high school at the University School of Nashville, share how the school bolstered community well-being by taking a data-driven approach to guide initiatives and build consensus for making meaningful change.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Discover the aspects of school life most closely linked with student mental health and educator well-being.
- Learn how one school has used data to increase feelings of belonging, incorporate community feedback, and reduce student strain.
- Explore best practices and strategies to identify and prioritize well-being programs in your own community.
- Presenters: Nina Kumar, Authentic Connections; Quinton Walker, University School of Nashville (TN)
|
The Student Experience |
| Roadmap to Wellness: Middle Schoolers Take the Lead |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: In response to an urgent need for mental health resources, schools have increased counseling and social-emotional learning (SEL) programs, but few have engaged in a systems-level approach to whole-school wellness. Even fewer include the students themselves in this process. Use a school/university partnership as a case study for how to center the voices of middle school students to help them research and initiate innovative wellness practices throughout the school. Hear directly from Dawson middle school students and educators about how this research-backed model benefitted the students and community alike.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn the research-based benefits of including student voices to increase well-being and sustainable school change.
- Experience a process for student inclusion, reflection, and action that you can use with your own school community.
- Glean practical strategies for improving student wellness, belonging, and agency that will positively affect overall school culture.
- Presenters: Roxanne Stansbury, The Alexander Dawson School (NV); Denise Pope, Stanford University/Challenge Success
|
The Student Experience |
| (Re)Building Emotional Resilience: Supporting Adolescent Boys’ Friendships in the Wake of COVID-19 |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Have you noticed a change in the way adolescent boys are interacting socially? Perhaps they are more withdrawn? Active? Or struggling to make connections? Take this opportunity to critically examine the role that peer relationships play in the educational experiences of adolescent boys and collaborate with other educators on strategies to support these critical social interactions, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Share observations and experiences relating to social learning that supports pro-social behaviors, examine a case study, and explore ways we can help students build emotional resilience in our classrooms.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Examine the developmental characteristics of adolescent boys ages 12-16.
- Explore developmental gaps created by social isolation over the past two years that have impacted adolescent boys.
- Develop tools and strategies to guide students and educators in order to (re)build social-emotional resilience.
- Presenters: Brooke Littman, University School, Shaker Campus (OH)
|
The Student Experience |
| Partnership in Action: Bridging DEIJ and Social-Impact Programs for Maximum Impact |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Ever wonder how to merge the work of your diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) initiatives with that of your community engagement and impact programs? Shouldn’t they be acting in unison and not separately? Hear from members of Hockaday School and Rye Country Day School as we share the various ways we have married our programs to work in harmony for the best interest of our students, partners, and community as a whole.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the imperative to have DEIJ and community engagement programs work in harmony.
- Learn various ways schools have merged their programs, the hurdles they have encountered, and the benefits that result from this work.
- Discover how we can educate our students so they are prepared to work, engage, and positively influence their community.
- Presenters: Blake Kohn, National Network of Schools in Partnership; Laura Day, Hockaday School (TX); Rebecca Drago and Ali Morgan, Rye Country Day School (NY)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Carrying Culture: Faculty Onboarding for Cultural Transmission and Evolution Fellowship Workshop |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Do onboarding practices serve to acculturate faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds to the organizational culture of the school and therefore preserve, maintain, and further a culture of exclusivity, or can onboarding practices invite new professionals to challenge, enhance, and build inclusivity into the school’s culture?
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: Fellowship Workshop
- Presenters: Carla Haith, Dedham Country Day School (MA); Gina Haughton, University School of Milwaukee (WI); Shehla Ghouse, Stevens Cooperative School, Newport Campus (NJ); John Stegeman, Eastside Preparatory School (WA); Josh Deitch, King School (CT); Donell Thompson Jr., Gilman School (MD)
|
Fellowship |
| Above Board: Principles of Equitable Governance Fellowship Workshop |
3 |
Thursday, February 23,
1:30 PM-2:30 PM |
- Summary: Effective boards are the backbone of flourishing independent schools. As demands within our schools continue to shift, how do we ensure boards are both effective and equitable in supporting their head of school and their larger community? Join us for a thoughtful discussion about board selection, composition, and orientation.
- Block: 3 (Thursday, February 23, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: Fellowship Workshop
- Presenters: Johanna Aeschliman, Redwood Day School (CA); Matthew Bolton, The Seven Hills School (OH); Alfie Hobbs, Pacific Ridge School (CA); Ashley Rae Mathis, Ursuline Academy of Dallas (TX); Jacqueline Nelson, St. Luke’s School (CT); Anthony Pisapia, Tower Hill School (DE)
|
Fellowship |
| Creating Changemakers: Teaching Students to Make a Difference |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Hear David Saunders, director of innovation and changemaking at Brookwood School, and Rich Lehrer, director of academic innovation and design at The Alexander Dawson School, outline initiatives at their respective schools that use design thinking, making, and project-based learning to teach students to become changemakers. Understand how changemaking work can inspire a community to teach students to make a difference in different disciplines and consider how this work might look at your school.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand how creating changemaker initiatives are used in two different independent school settings to teach students to make a difference.
- See concrete examples of student-created solutions to community problems and design opportunities.
- Actively consider how a changemaker initiative might look in your school setting.
- Presenters: Rich Lehrer, The Alexander Dawson School (NV); David Saunders, Brookwood School (MA)
|
The Student Experience |
| The Unusual Suspects: Marketing Success for Gen Z to Millennial Parents |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Get an overview of relevant market data you can mine for clues as to how to make your school’s advertising and communication stronger as successive culturally distinct generations of parents begin shopping for schools. Join us to address understanding the competition, surveying your own constituents/leveraging parents associations, retention management—micromanaging down to the individual, communication of change, the importance of onboarding new staff well for retention, marketing against the competition—direct and specific without crossing lines, and making a market shift toward Gen Z parents.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Examine generation-related consumer data.
- Learn from data to help make marketing decisions.
- Learn from data to help make programming decisions.
- Presenters: Kevin Kunst, Evansville Day School (IN); Katie Koestner, Campus Outreach Services
|
Communications and Advancement |
| The Executive Committee: Purpose and Parameters for Board Effectiveness |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Most independent school boards have an Executive Committee, yet many of those schools question the purpose and parameters the committee is meant to fill. So what is the role of the Executive Committee? How does the role of the committee influence the board-head partnership? Should a board also have a separate Head Support and Review Committee? Join us to unpack the true role of the Executive Committee: what its responsibilities should be, who should be on the committee, how the committee partners with the head of school, and what its most important functions are.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn how to create and support an effective Executive Committee.
- Explore how to enhance the board-head partnership.
- Understand ways to generatively engage trustees in support of board work.
- Presenters: Anne-Marie Balzano, Mission and Data; Barb Rosston, Barbara Rosston Consulting
|
Governance |
| Lifting Up Faculty Expertise: Centering Faculty Strengths and Modeling to Enhance Professional Development |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Bringing outside experts to campus can be transformative for faculty; however, professional growth approaches that give faculty the reins to share their learning and expertise with peers is both powerful and empowering. This teacher-centered professional development approach enables faculty leaders to model best practices. Share concrete examples of faculty-led workshops at three independent schools in using several professional growth models: collaborating during summer months, hosting a PD Day, and implementing a yearlong blended-learning approach. Additionally, take time to develop your own plan to support faculty-led professional development.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Walk away with professional development (PD) ideas that put the power in faculty hands.
- Envision different ways to implement in-house, teacher-centered PD.
- Develop some ideas to bring back to your own school.
- Presenters: Heidi Hojnicki, Kingswood Oxford School (CT); Stephanie Griffin, Trinity Episcopal School (NC); Julie Rust, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School (MI)
|
Leadership Development |
| Nurturing and Assessing Intercultural Competencies in K-12 Educators |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: The demands of an increasingly interconnected world have led many K-12 schools to prioritize global education and the development of intercultural competencies in students. Educators' nurturing of global perspectives and intercultural competencies in educators is crucial, yet sometimes overlooked. Get a research-based framework for addressing and assessing intercultural competencies growth in educators, emphasizing approaches that promote purposeful reflection, professional development, and pedagogical impact. In addition to a review of current peer-reviewed research, explore the presenter’s recent study involving 18 independent schools. Share your school’s approaches that promote the development of intercultural competencies.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Compare diverse research-based frameworks that address the development of intercultural competencies in K-12 educational settings.
- Construct strategies that promote intercultural competencies reflection and growth in K-12 educators.
- Examine strategies for assessing K-12 educator intercultural competencies as a means of promoting reflection and strategic professional development.
- Presenters: David Lynn, Charlotte Country Day School (NC)
|
Leadership Development |
| Equity, Inclusion, and Restorative Justice in Action: Bias Incident Reporting and Professional Development |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Hear the director of restorative practices and chief equity and inclusion officer at Milton Academy guide us through the design and implementation of two critical responsibilities of their partnership: professional development and bias incident reporting. In addition to exploring the theoretical intersection of the fields of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) and restorative justice, engage in concrete analysis of school culture and its impact on initiatives designed to build capacity and redress identity-related harm. Heads of school, administrators, and teacher leaders benefit most from this workshop.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Identify key elements of overlap between DEIJ and restorative justice in independent schools.
- Find out how school leaders can use school culture to inform goals and design dual DEIJ and restorative justice initiatives.
- Explore what success looks like in tangible examples of partnership between DEIJ and restorative justice leaders.
- Presenters: Vanessa Cohen Gibbons and Suzanne DeBuhr, Milton Academy (MA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Growing Leaders |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Explore a leadership development tool that is easy to use (manageable), supported by established experts (triangulated), and likely to lead to growth (meaningful). The Growth Profile is based on the A Method for Hiring. It suggests a growth profile consists of mission, the essence of the position; outcomes, three to six key (ranked) outcomes; and competencies, how to achieve the outcomes. It also includes a social growth (stretch) opportunity based on work from the Center for Creative Leadership and is extended, explained, and explored by connecting it to the book Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Gain exposure to three distinct leadership resources that are potentially shareable with other school leaders.
- Learn to create a manageable, triangulated, and meaningful leadership development tool. (Template provided.)
- Respond to a challenging labor market with a well-founded leadership development tool.
- Presenters: Jeffrey Mitchell, Currey Ingram Academy (TN)
|
Leadership Development |
| Designing for Growth: Reframing Evaluation to Meet Community Needs |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Hear the story of how Polytechnic School reimagined its evaluation and professional growth process to focus on growth, destigmatize observation and feedback, and give faculty more agency. Explore key elements within that reimagining, including the design thinking process that guided the efforts, the collaboration between faculty and evaluators, and the tools used to manage the individual elements of the programs. Work in small groups on a design thinking exercise, brainstorm your own community expectations, and identify your own essential questions. Administrators, evaluators, and teacher leaders will benefit from this workshop.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Recognize ways to shift common fears around classroom observations.
- Understand how to use the design thinking process to ensure school-specific needs are met.
- Begin to identify universal criteria for all faculty at your school.
- Presenters: Sarah Wolf and JD Gladden, Polytechnic School (CA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Leveraging Love and Partnership to Build Belonging in Your Community |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Issues of diversity and belonging continue to challenge school communities across the country. Flashpoint issues framed by differences of identity and enflamed by judgments about worldviews can paralyze school leaders, making them hesitant to lead and generating confusion among their community. Learn how to align community interests with community members' need to truly belong. Hear heterodox perspectives on ways to value diversity, build belonging, and help create a truly inclusive learning community.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Demonstrate awareness of alternative paths toward belonging in school communities.
- Demonstrate awareness of ways to assess a broadly diverse school community's interests and needs to aim for belonging.
- Demonstrate how to leverage external partnerships in creating specific solutions for your learning community.
- Presenters: Christopher Jones and Beth Wilner, Cannon School (NC); Chloe Valdary, Theory of Enchantment
|
Leadership Development |
| Looking Back and Paying It Forward: Your Role as a Mentor |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: The most significant ways to build community and help with faculty retention include acknowledging one another's strengths and providing opportunities for growth. Are you using your experience and leadership to mentor others? Do you want to refine your mentorship skills? It is never too late to be a mentor and have a lasting impact on others. Join us to use a reflective process to build our skills as mentors and set goals for ourselves. Anyone can be a mentor and all educational roles can learn from this workshop.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn a simple way to build community and help retain faculty.
- Learn how to support and encourage teacher-leaders.
- Create a culture of mentorship.
- Presenters: Meredith Godley and Dorothy Lopez, Moorestown Friends School (NJ)
|
Leadership Development |
| Teacher Attrition: A Critical Challenge for Independent Schools? |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: News media have sounded the alarm of teacher shortages as a crisis in our nation, but when talking about teacher attrition, how critical is the situation? Experts believe that while the situation is not new, the pandemic has worsened it. What are the numbers for independent schools? What are the drivers of teacher turnover? How are independent schools responding to these issues? Join us to discuss these topics and explore ways for schools to tackle these challenges.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Presenters: Amada Torres and Jefferson Burnett, NAIS
|
Leadership Development |
| Resetting Tuition: A Case Study |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Over the past decade, the average tuition at independent schools has increased by nearly 40%. Not surprisingly, financial aid spending has grown significantly over this same period of time. In October 2019, The Kiski School, a boys’ boarding school near Pittsburgh, announced that it would reduce tuition by 20% in 2020-21. In this pricing strategy, called a tuition reset, tuition is significantly lowered and lost revenue is replaced by growing enrollment and decreasing financial aid costs. Join us to explore all aspects of Kiski’s tuition reset, including feasibility analysis, messaging, and measuring outcomes.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn how to assess if a tuition reset could be a feasible pricing model for your school.
- Learn how to successfully message and market a tuition reset.
- Learn how to measure key metrics in order to assess the success of a tuition reset.
- Presenters: Christopher Brueningsen, The Kiski School (PA)
|
Management |
| Straight-Talk Tech Questions Heads Need to Ask to Make Better Decisions |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: All school leaders—especially heads, trustees, and business officers—have become chief technology leaders in the last several years, regardless of whether or not they feel comfortable with the role. In a pandemic-affected world, it’s critical to ask the right technology-specific questions to make well-informed decisions. Join this straight-to-the-point session to give non-techie administrators a primer on the status of today's tech in independent schools and a list of the critical questions you should ask your technology teams to ensure student privacy, cyber safety, and technological relevance.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Obtain a to-the-point list of questions designed to ensure student privacy, cyber safety, and technological relevance.
- Explore the biggest risks facing schools today and what administrators can do to ensure safety for the community.
- Gain best practices sourced from other independent schools to give you proven solutions and creative ideas to try.
- Presenters: Christina Lewellen, Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools
|
Management |
| How Students Deliver on a Global Call to Action |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Learn how to cultivate community by gaining the specific knowledge and resources to implement action in response to the global call-to-action advocated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Get ready-to-use activities for your classroom and school that span the early childhood through high school continuum. Gain ready-to-use examples that span all grade levels, including activities for teachers, units of study for specialists, professional development for division heads, and key strategies for successful implementation for school leaders.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Cultivate community at the local and global levels.
- Foster a mindset of creativity and innovation.
- Empower students to make the world a better place.
- Presenters: Marek Beck, The Elisabeth Morrow School (NJ); Jacklyn Beck, United Nations, Catholic University of America, The Elisabeth Morrow School (NJ)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| When Student Interactions Go Wrong—Helping Teens Avoid Harm and Embrace Empathy |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Have you ever heard a comment between students that doesn’t feel right, but you don’t know what to say? These comments, formally referred to as microaggressions, can have a negative impact even if being hurtful was not the speaker’s intent. As teachers, we overhear so much and we are not always sure of how best to intervene and the right thing to say. Learn to identify areas for intervention, practice scripts that use student-centered language, and develop confidence in your own ability to help students navigate challenging interactions in healthy and positive ways.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Create awareness surrounding the common occurrences of microaggresions.
- Learn to become an "active eavesdropper."
- Discover ways to respond when a microaggression occurs between students.
- Presenters: Nadine Hall and Kelly Williams, Greenhills School (MI)
|
The Student Experience |
| Equity-Powered Podcasting and Audio Storytelling: Centering Marginalized Perspectives, Empowering Student Voices, Deepening DEIB Dialogue |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Educators in grades 3-8, join us to integrate themes of critical identity development and intersectionality into a collaborative, student-centered, digital storytelling medium. Get an expansive introductory framework for collaboratively exploring and promoting notions of identity through digital storytelling across a school community. Learn through reflections based on the presenter’s classroom facilitation experience, thematic group discussions and activities, review of curriculum and tools, and exploring evidence of student work from the 2022 school year. Gain clear strategies, templates, and inspiration for project implementation and considerations for broader community engagement.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Comprehend and acquire a fluid set of strategies and tools to implement the use of digital media.
- Emphasize practical strategies and the importance of gathering data directly from students for building identity and affinity learning.
- Demonstrate a model of cross-community dialogue that builds the critical mass needed to cultivate and sustain equity and justice programming.
- Presenters: Arjuna Sayyed, Park Day School (CA)
|
The Student Experience |
| A Restorative Approach to Promote Healing from Sexual Abuse |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Schools facing allegations of historic sexual abuse may assume their work concludes with the release of an investigative report to the community. In reality, the release of the report is just the beginning. Learn how one school's administration and board partnered with an alumna survivor of sexual abuse to facilitate a path to healing and forgiveness through a restorative justice model. The end result was not a lawsuit but rather the creation of a new approach that promotes healing not just for this alumna but also for other impacted alums. Leave with a roadmap for similar work in your school.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the legacy of sexual abuse in schools does not end with the release of a report.
- Learn how restorative justice and restorative circles can provide successful processes for healing and reconciliation for survivors of sexual abuse.
- See how proactive restorative work with impacted alums can take the place of a lawsuit and assist survivors on the path to healing.
- Presenters: Christina Mazzola, JuanCarlos Arauz, Quoc Tran, and Nathalio Gray, The Branson School (CA)
|
The Student Experience |
| Developing and Implementing a House System That Works |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: The house system at Pinewood Preparatory School was designed to build connections and community across grade levels and give students opportunities for leadership and a higher-level of engagement. In addition, it also offers students and teachers the opportunity to work with one another outside of the academic arena, promote a healthy sense of school spirit, and establish connections that transcend classrooms and grade levels. Come learn how we developed and implemented our house system and see if it could do the same for you!
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Analyze and discuss the benefits of a house system in schools.
- Describe the key components to consider when creating a house system.
- Formulate ideas for implementing a house system that honors school traditions.
- Presenters: Angela Ringley and Elise Shelton, Pinewood Preparatory School (SC)
|
The Student Experience |
| Queer Inclusivity: 10 Questions for Schools to Ask as They Build Community |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: As queer identities reach far beyond gay and lesbian and as youth culture is often the push behind these expanding frameworks, schools can struggle to keep up. Join us to review some of the most current theory around gender identity and sexual orientation. Then consider 10 questions schools can ask themselves as they work to ensure their queer students, parents, and staff continue to feel like active, included, and valued members of the community. While some of the questions have answers, most of them actually start processes for communities to build their own answers.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in up-to-date ways.
- List at least three topics schools should consider as they relate to queer inclusion.
- Identify at least one topic your school can tackle to become more queer inclusive.
- Presenters: Karen Rayne, UNHUSHED; Sam Davis, St. Stephen's Episcopal School (TX)
|
The Student Experience |
| We Are What We Teach: The Impact of Our Identities on Our Teaching |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: The metaphorical expression “we are what we eat” implies that what we eat eventually affects our lives. Similarly, our identities and life experiences affect who we are as educators. Take this opportunity to reflect on your teaching philosophies and practices in order to understand “the why” behind “the what” of the teaching that occurs in your classroom. Join us to identify and discuss “dietary” adjustments you can make to enhance your teaching, which ultimately enhances student learning.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Explore and assess your personal identity and experiences.
- Explore and assess teaching practices and philosophies and understand how they connect with your identity and experiences.
- Identify strategies and/or professional development needed to expand your curriculum development and delivery.
- Presenters: Le'Aqua Pruitt, Milton Academy (MA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Grades: Inflation and Mission Alignment Fellowship Workshop |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: As inflation dominates headlines, the education world continues to grapple with concerns about the grading variety. We seek to understand the relative importance of causes of grade inflation, how much time heads of school devote to grading practices, and whether grading changes align with their schools' mission statements.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: Fellowship Workshop
- Presenters: Ana Pazos, Gulliver Prep (FL); Christopher Johnson, Scheck Hillel Community School (FL); Tanya Susoev, Live Oak School (CA); Kathryn Maggiotto, York Prep (NY); Kim Lalli, Dwight-Englewood School (NJ); John French, The Prairie School (WI)
|
Fellowship |
| Supporting Educators Through Crisis: The Pandemic and Polarities Fellowship Workshop |
4 |
Friday, February 24,
8:00 AM-9:00 AM |
- Summary: Teachers have evolving demands as they support today’s students. In this session, we will share school perspectives on new needs for educators (teachers and administrators), offer strategies for supporting teachers in a volatile educational landscape, and provide suggestions for how schools can evaluate the effectiveness of their support measures.
- Block: 4 (Friday, February 24, 8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: Fellowship Workshop
- Presenters: Malia Gilbert Neal, ArtWell; Tiffany Smith, Beaver Country Day School (MA); Arika Easley-Houser, Dwight-Englewood School (NJ); David Dwyer, The Paideia School (GA); Rashied McCreary, Kent Place School (NJ); Kathryn Kaiser, The School at Columbia University (NY)
|
Fellowship |
| Supporting Youth-Led Mental Health Programming in Independent Schools |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Changing the culture and conversation about mental health starts by creating spaces for youth to lead and engage in their school communities. Active Minds, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for mental health awareness and education for youth and young adults, empowers students to lead this work. Join us to highlight the mental health needs of students by amplifying and engaging youth voices as leaders, hear the experience of a current Active Minds chapter advisor, and learn distinct ways school staff can support student-led mental health programming and improve mental health outcomes for youth.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn about the benefits of student-led mental health programs.
- Describe strategies to support students in leading conversations about mental health.
- Describe strategies to build engagement and buy-in with faculty, parents, and community stakeholders.
- Presenters: Janie Egan, Active Minds; Stephen Popp and Diego Estrada, The John Cooper School (TX)
|
The Student Experience |
| Jazz and Controversy: Leadership Lessons from Both Sides of the Curtain |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: As school leaders, we build culture, make difficult decisions, and navigate crisis and controversy—every single day. Sometimes we are in a position to draw upon formal training and high-quality mentorship (both of which have their own unique limitations), but much of the time we must rely on our instincts, professional experiences, and informal or unrelated training for the perspective and confidence we need to effectively lead our communities. Join this humorous and inspiring workshop to explore the connections among our training, our learning, and our leadership, and leave more ready to help your communities thrive.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Build camaraderie with other school leaders—we’re not alone.
- Identify the ways we’ve developed skills superficially unrelated to school leadership.
- Make actionable plans to develop and deploy those skills when we need them most.
- Presenters: Jason Patera, The Chicago Academy for the Arts (IL)
|
Leadership Development |
| Y’all Means All: Expanding Gender Inclusivity in the Elementary Space |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Increased national discourse around gender education has provided space for independent schools to critically reflect on our role and responsibility to educate and support families as we navigate this journey to build an inclusive community. Learn how St. Andrew’s Episcopal School reviewed current practices, sought educational opportunities with Gender Spectrum, and leaned on our Episcopal identity to inform new initiatives. We acknowledge that this work is ongoing. We hope to provide space for all to share your own misses and celebrations as well as resources with those who are ready to begin implementing next steps.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Describe students' understanding of gender in early childhood developmental stages and identify steps to build a gender-inclusive classroom/community.
- Identify strategies for navigating a broad spectrum of parent support and comfort levels.
- Communicate ways early conversations on gender support student well-being throughout development.
- Presenters: Amanda Boardman, Katy Roybal, and Jasmin Vara, St. Andrew's Episcopal School (TX)
|
The Student Experience |
| Exploring Best Practices for Student Requests to Avoid Traumatic Material |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Fitting an increasing mental health trend, our school has received growing requests to avoid traumatic material in class. Quite often, these requests showed as an inquiry for alternative assignments. Examine what best practices support working with students who are distressed or encounter traumatic material in class. Review the differences among grief, trauma, and anxiety and possible classroom presentations. Explore the question: Should alternative assignments be used as best practice to support these students? As an administrator, teacher, and support staff, leave with effective approaches to support students around traumatic material.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Review current research on best practices for supporting distressed students in classrooms.
- Conceptualize the underlying needs for students dealing with grief, trauma, and anxiety.
- Evaluate alternative assignments as an intervention to work with students dealing with distress.
- Presenters: Theo Stripling, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (IL)
|
The Student Experience |
| Managing a Crisis When Everyone Has a Microphone: Safety and Communications in the Age of Social Media |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Issues that seem like small fires can quickly turn into conflagrations at schools. Social media can amplify and complicate crises, often leading to safety concerns. How can school leaders manage these situations most effectively and – most important -- keep everyone safe? In this session, we’ll look at the crisis issues most common in independent schools now. We’ll discuss techniques for decision-making and for communicating well. Through true (anonymized) case studies, participants will grapple with challenging questions related to safety and crisis communications.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Encourage leaders to build skills in crisis leadership.
- Provide concrete tools to manage crises.
- Offer tips to mitigate harm in crisis situations.
- Presenters: Myra McGovern, NAIS; Jim Hulbert, The Jane Group; Chris Joffe, Joffe Emergency Services
|
Communications and Advancement |
| Impromptu Requests to Talk About It: How to Meet the Needs of All Students |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Classroom teachers, join us to develop a robust, flexible framework for responding to spur-of-the-moment requests from students to talk about high-stakes current events and issues. Three fundamental assumptions orient the framework: Every student has more needs and wants than I, as one individual teacher, can satisfy. Some needs are more important to address than others. The factors that limit my ability to fulfill every need of every student—my individual expertise, values, personal quirks, identity—are also what make me successful as a teacher. Especially welcome are teachers who feel anxious or conflicted about discussing breaking news with students.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn a concrete sequence of steps for handling an impromptu request to talk about a high-stakes topic.
- Practice using the framework with true-to-life case studies.
- Depart with a curated list of resources and additional case studies with analysis.
- Presenters: Darius Weil, Princeton University
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Solicitation Savvy: Ask with Confidence! |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Help your volunteers and staff learn the positive language and mindset for enjoyable, effective gift solicitation. Join us to design a successful solicitation strategy, identify tips and techniques for training volunteer fundraisers, learn how to address donor objections, and work through a case study that provides an opportunity to put theory into practice.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Identify common key elements and techniques in fundraising strategy.
- Explore proven strategies to reduce the discomfort people often experience when asking for financial support for schools.
- Learn how attitudes and beliefs shape resistance to financial decisions and how can staff and volunteers can effectively recognize and address them.
- Presenters: Starr Snead, Advancement Connections; Shelley Reese, Nashoba Learning Group
|
Communications and Advancement |
| Partnering in Permanent Whitewater: The Head-Board Relationship |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Trustees and heads of school have been challenged in the last two years to develop new models of partnership to respond to what seems to be a never-ending series of conflict-ridden issues. School communities have been fractured as a hyperfocus on partisan debates and disagreements dominates governance agendas in ways unimagined previously. Explore strategies for the head of school to both manage and lead in partnership with the board chair under these new conditions.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand how this period of crisis has impacted the head of school and board partnership.
- Explore various scenarios to apply key concepts of leadership and governance models.
- Learn a framework for effective decision-making in the partnership.
- Presenters: Jack Creeden, Whitby School (CT); Anne-Marie Balzano, Mission & Data
|
Governance |
| Proudly Proclaiming the Value of Independent Schools: Making a Unifying and Winning Case |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Recently, some have raised questions about the value of independent schools. They have asked if we are not more a part of the problem than a part of the solution to complex societal problems. Join us to not only propose a case for the value of independent schools but also contribute to a discussion of how our schools, both individually and collectively, can effectively contribute to a nationwide understanding of the role independent school education has played and can play in shaping a better future for the students we serve and for our society as a whole.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Walk away with an understanding of the importance of an explicit value statement for independent schools.
- Become part of a dialogue to examine the extent to which our schools live up to that value.
- Depart with an understanding of how schools (or your individual school) can contribute to shaping a better future.
- Presenters: Ross Peters, EXPLO Elevate; John Gulla, The Edward E. Ford Foundation
|
Governance |
| Take Care of Your Chair: Improving (or Refining) Your School's Department Head Support Models |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Department heads are closely connected to day-to-day teaching and learning and steward the school’s life of the mind. Department head meetings could be a time to discuss the art and science of teaching and reflect on how school systems support or detract from this work. Unfortunately, in many schools, department heads are too caught up in managerial tasks to attend to instructional leadership and the life of the mind and department head meetings are fraught and challenging. Discuss proven strategies to address both challenges and make your school better able to live its mission!
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Define systems for auditing how department heads spend their time and consider frames for ideal time allotment.
- Examine the barriers to success for many department heads and create structures to bridge these barriers.
- Develop strategies to reframe department head meetings as time for partnership and collaborative work.
- Presenters: David Hamilton and Elise London, Exploration School (MA); Jenna Goldenberg, Greenhills School (MI)
|
Leadership Development |
| Tending Trust: Practical Strategies for Administrators to Nourish Communities of Trust |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: We all desire cultures of trust in our schools. Not only is it important for our individual and collective well-being but also it’s the very soil in which mission-driven innovation, problem-solving, and creativity flourish. But how do we bridge the gap between theory and practice? By embracing the concept that administrative initiation of trust is where trust-building begins, join us to focus specifically on concrete strategies school leaders can engage to grow and sustain cultures of trust in our spheres of influence.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand and embrace your role as a trust builder in your sphere of influence.
- Reflect on and explore concrete habits, strategies, and practices for building and sustaining trust.
- Connect with peers regarding challenges and opportunities for building and maintaining a culture of trust.
- Presenters: Sandy Nelson, Casady School (OK)
|
Leadership Development |
| Two-Way Mentorship: Building the Relationship Between the Head and Assistant Head of School |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: What are the critical components of a positive and successful relationship between a head of school and the assistant/associate head of school? Heads of school rely on a wide range of people to advance the mission and strategic direction of the school. While not always obvious, the two-way learning opportunity between a head and an assistant head of school deserves special consideration. Draw on the experiences of sitting and former heads and assistant heads of school and discuss a range of challenges and opportunities for professional and personal growth.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Honestly address some of the reasons why this important relationship works and often fails.
- Consider strategies to develop of an excellent assistant head of school.
- Share different models of successful head and assistant head of school relationships.
- Presenters: Scott Parker, The Chestnut Hill School (MA); Lauren Miller, Seacrest School (CA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Anti-Racist Leadership: Developing Principled Relationships Across Race |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Leaders of color face particular challenges in predominantly white schools. Most efforts to increase racial justice on campus don’t focus on the relationships between leaders across race and how well leadership teams work together to address racism. Discover how leaders can develop stronger collegial relationships and increase the effectiveness of communication across racially diverse leadership teams. Building on our leadership experiences in several schools/leadership roles, share pitfalls, successes, and strategies to ensure that leadership teams are effective models and advocates for anti-racism on campus.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Develop support and mentorship for leaders of color.
- Help white leaders improve your racial literacy and be better advocates for equity in partnership with your colleagues of color.
- Explore how cross-racial teams can model the behavior we need from all of our colleagues.
- Presenters: Elizabeth Denevi, Lewis & Clark College; Mariama Richards, Crossroads School (CA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Making Auxiliary Student Programming Profitable |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Focus on how to build thriving and positive-revenue auxiliary programming at your school. Draw on the experience of three years of shifting our program from a service orientation to a revenue model that has resulted in higher-quality programming, more demand, and positive net revenue. Discuss how to invest in the capacity for improvement, create meaningful measures of value, and promote equity through access for all families. Leave with design principles, resources, and new connections to support change at your school.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the difference between a service orientation and a revenue model.
- Learn about three design principles for improving auxiliary programming.
- Connect with practitioners at other schools who are working to improve their auxiliary programs.
- Presenters: Katie Peterson and Julie Kallio, Breck School (MN)
|
Management |
| Employment Contracts, Letters, and Other Options: What’s Best for Your School and Leadership Style? |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: As heads, business officers, and other administrators reexamine who leads and how in a changing world and education landscape, with shifting mindsets and generational expectations, critical and recurring questions surround our longstanding practices and whether to change: key among them, establishing the employment relationship. Offer letters, employment agreements/contracts for fixed terms, and agreements for at-will employment all are legal options. Which approach is right for your school depends on leadership style and school culture.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Develop a clear understanding of employment at will and overcome common misperceptions about the meaning of an at-will state.
- Recognize and eliminate common errors in hiring and other documents inadvertently limiting leadership's legal options and/or weakening legal position.
- Understand legal and employee relations implications of different options for how to document the formation of the employment relationship.
- Presenters: Heather Broadwater, Stanton Law
|
Management |
| Recentering Self, Recentering Community: Using Restorative Practices and Personal Coaching Strategies to Improve School Culture |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: With educator fatigue on the rise and the possibility of a Great Teacher Resignation in our schools' future, it is more important now than ever to implement practices that focus on faculty wellness and building positive school culture. Share intentional systems that have been put into place to shift our faculty culture from one that feels exhausted and undervalued to one that feels balanced and appreciated through the use of personal coaching strategies and schoolwide implementation of restorative practices. Leave with resources and strategies you can begin using immediately.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Develop programming to assist faculty in gaining a better understanding of self.
- Utilize important elements of personal coaching to support faculty in feeling valued.
- Implement components of restorative practices schoolwide to build relationships and create a sense of belonging and responsibility in the community.
- Presenters: Paula Apostolou, Recentered LLC; Stephanie Harman, Maumee Valley Country Day School (OH)
|
Management |
| What Does it Cost to Enroll an Independent School Student? |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Does your school know how much it costs to enroll each new student? Are you aware of the return on investment for each dollar spent on enrollment management? Learn more about this and other issues related to admissions expenses and returns. Discuss how cost per enrollment varies across school types and explore what these data mean for your school.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Presenters: Joe Corbett, NAIS
|
Management |
| Neuroplasticity Exists—Let's Align Teaching and Schools with How the Brain Learns Best |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Neuroplasticity exists—every child's brain is changing as a result of the experiences they have and how they unpack them. Since this is the case, shouldn't we design every aspect of our classes and schools to be as good as possible? Discover how to turn the best insights from research on what helps students learn into practical strategies for your class or school. Topics include cognitive load, metacognition, study skills, and strategies that emerge when you examine the intersection of diversity, equity, and belonging and mind, brain, and education.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Embrace neuroplasticity and the link between emotion and cognition in the brain and apply strategies in your class or school.
- Understand cognitive load theory and metacognition and develop strategies to apply in your class or school.
- Investigate what the link between diversity, equity, and belonging and mind, brain, and education looks like in your school.
- Presenters: Glenn Whitman and Christine Lewis, The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning at St. Andrew's Episcopal School (MD)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| UnGrading: Lifting Learning Through Metacognition and Reflection |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Exploring ways to rethink grading? Come see the paradigm shift of UnGrading. Have you explored equity-informed or mastery-based and still searching for more impact on lifting student learning? UnGrading is derived from teachers who tried competency-based and equitable grading but found these adjustments to be symptomatic “fixes.” UnGrading is an opportunity to treat the larger underlying issues of grades. Hear about our own transition, first from traditional grading to competency- and equity-based models, now to teaching grade-less. Gain techniques, policies, and strategies to implement UnGrading, showing how to leverage student metacognition to maximize learning.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Identify fundamental flaws in grading practices that still cannot be addressed through competency-based and/or equitable-based grading.
- Learn to scaffold and leverage student reflection and metacognition to determine course grades through students actively engaging in their learning.
- Design intervention practices and systems to support student learning when shifting away from standard grading practices.
- Presenters: Hassan Wilson and Cory Park, Constellation Learning Institute; Jesse Pasca, Friends Seminary (NY)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Do Your Students Need More Extensions, Too? Exploring Equity and Loving Accountability in Grading |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Following Zoom school, when teachers responded to student stress with increased flexibility, we have seen a marked increase in students struggling to meet deadlines and build good academic habits. Even before 2020, our schools have been appropriately responding to student overload by adding support structures, shifting grading, and interrogating inequitable systems. How might we balance flexibility and accountability? How do we encourage responsibility while also grading students equitably? How do standards and competency-based practices support accountability? Join us to unpack what accountability means for each of us and explore ways of building school cultures of loving accountability.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Explore equitable assessment and grading practices that balance support with accountability.
- Take inventory of underlying assumptions and emotions attached to questions about equitable grading practices.
- Build a shared language that promotes a culture of loving accountability in your school community.
- Presenters: Derek Kanarek, Catlin Gabel School (OR); Regan Galvan, Vistamar School (CA); Michael Peller, The White Mountain School (NH); Julia Griffin, Hawken School (OH); Jason Cummings, Global Online Academy (WA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Teaching into Our Values: Creating a Values-Based Program by Identifying, Defining, and Operationalizing Shared Values |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Fundamentally, what is the purpose of education in an ever-more connected world, where students have access to all knowledge at their fingertips? While content and skills are essential to success, we argue that values—the fundamental attitudes, feelings, and beliefs we want our children to have—are the key to preparing our students to be active citizens of the future. That said, values are only as effective as they are truly used to guide decisions. Join us to identify your core values, understand how values inform curriculum, and leave with actionable next steps toward designing a values-based program.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Identify your personal core values.
- Understand how values inform curricular and instructional decisions and reflect on your current practice.
- Draft a theory of action for designing a values-based program.
- Presenters: Allison Erickson and Danielle Heyde, San Diego Jewish Academy (CA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Proactive and Responsive Ways of Navigating Conflict in the Classroom |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: Giving space and time for discourse and responding to conflict can often be challenging for educators when navigating controversial topics and difficult matters with students. Have there been moments where you have been stuck or unsure about how to engage? As educators, are we supposed to stay neutral about issues that we feel strongly about? Do we honor all perspectives? As we talk through these courageous conversations, highlight best practices and identify tools and language to guide conversations that help students think critically, question, and engage thoughtfully.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn practical ways to respond proactively when navigating difficult topics and conversations.
- Get tools to create a community that honors multiple perspectives but also draws compassionate boundaries at the truth.
- Acquire practices and tools that you can use in any conversation.
- Presenters: Cabrina Kang, The Berkeley Carroll School (NY); Regina Hardatt, The Pingry School (NJ)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Discover, Define, Design, Deploy: Creating a Design Thinking Course for Middle School PechaKucha |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: PechaKucha
- Presenters: Ryan Welch, The Mount Vernon School (GA)
|
|
| I Jumped Off the QEII to Drive My Own Speedboat, Then Experienced the Perfect Storm PechaKucha |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: PechaKucha
- Presenters: Nancy Lang, The New School (AR)
|
|
| Celebrating Community Through Classroom Connections PechaKucha |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: PechaKucha
- Presenters: Jessen Carley, Epiphany School (WA)
|
|
| My Homemade Blockchain Game: Turning the Crypto Craze into a Creativity (& Learning) Craze PechaKucha |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: PechaKucha
- Presenters: Nathaniel Green, Sidwell Friends School (DC)
|
|
| This Person Is Doing The Best They Can PechaKucha |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: PechaKucha
- Presenters: Elizabeth Perry, St. Luke's School (CT)
|
|
| Heroes Needed: No Masks or Capes Necessary PechaKucha |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: PechaKucha
- Presenters: Le'Aqua Pruitt, Milton Academy (MA)
|
|
| The Black People Show: Changing the Black History Month Narrative Through Student Empowerment PechaKucha |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: PechaKucha
- Presenters: Chrystal Miller, The Alexander Dawson School (NV)
|
|
| The True and Lasting Impact of Faculty Onboarding Fellowship Workshop |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: By examining the onboarding and mentorship processes at a variety of independent schools through research, we hypothesize a relationship exists between the onboarding process and teacher satisfaction, success, and retention. Our hope is that our research will inform optimizing this process to impact faculty growth, retention, and overall success.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: Fellowship Workshop
- Presenters: Rachel Bartron, Wyoming Seminary School (PA); Stephanie Bramlett, Phillips Exeter Academy (NH); Trip Cogburn, Carolina Day School (NC); Michael Hoe, The Webb Schools (CA); Marie Myers, Concord Academy (MA); Tanner Ragland, The Seven Hills School (CA)
|
Fellowship |
| Have You Asked? Understanding Why Teachers Stay Fellowship Workshop |
5 |
Friday, February 24,
11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
- Summary: It’s not just about the occasional pizza lunch or the salary you offer. Asking for feedback is the first step in understanding and building a culture of retention and support for faculty. Join us for survey analysis that will help you make informed decisions to strengthen school culture.
- Block: 5 (Friday, February 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: Fellowship Workshop
- Presenters: John Boyer, The Pine School (FL); Benjamin Courchesne, St. Andrew's Episcopal School (TX); Marissa DeSiena, Westmark School (CA); Patrick Douville, National Child Research Center (DC); Laurie Friedrichs, Academy of the Sacred Heart (LA); Stacey Hendershot, The Bolles School (FL)
|
Fellowship |
| Personalized Tuition—It’s Not Just for College Anymore |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Facing decreasing enrollment and increasing financial concerns, Cape Cod Academy, a K-12 school in southeastern Massachusetts, launched a personalized tuition program in the spring of 2019, just before COVID-19 hit. Learn how this program not only increased enrollment but also ethnic and economic diversity as it offered wider community access to our school. Hear details about the process, mechanics, and communications of the program and receive the necessary resources to return to your school prepared to design and implement your own personalized-tuition program.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn what personalized tuition looks like at an independent K-12 school.
- Learn how to envision, implement, and market a personalized-tuition program.
- Learn the steps required for sustaining a successful personalized-tuition program.
- Presenters: Lisa Fournier Kowaleski and Jeffrey Thompson, Cape Cod Academy (MA)
|
Management |
| Relationships Reset: Classroom Practices to Build Sustainable and Healthy Post-Pandemic Communities |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: The social-emotional aftermath of the pandemic continues to resonate through relationships across schools. Teachers report a markedly higher percentage of emotional needs within classrooms brought on by pandemic-related developmental delays and anxieties brought on by home and societal-based stress. Join us to focus on the classroom and understand, collaborate, and imagine novel ways to use existing practices to meet emerging social-emotional needs. Engage in conversations and reflections on what is happening at your school right now and explore how to build engagement and kindness among constituencies who are rebuilding relationships as we re-create meaning in our in-person school communities.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Engage in conversation, collaboration, and reflection.
- Reimagine current SEL strategies in a new landscape.
- Brainstorm action plans for supporting teachers and school leadership.
- Presenters: Mike Orlando, Helios School (CA); Jane Murphy, Almaden Country Day School (CA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Is Your Onboarding Program Aligned with Your School's Values and Teaching Philosophy? |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: We all have onboarding programs for new faculty and staff that focus on providing necessary logistical information and foster culture building, but is your program aligned with your school's teaching philosophy? Does your program communicate explicitly and implicitly what good teaching looks like at your school? How do you decide what information to share or not share when you have a finite amount of time and a seemingly infinite amount of topics? Share our journey to create an opportunity for new community members to experience our school culture—not just learn facts about it.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn key framing questions to ask when planning your onboarding activities.
- Gain a clearer understanding of the connection between onboarding activities and your school's values.
- Learn strategies to redesign onboarding activities utilizing more participant-centric methodologies.
- Presenters: Corbett Simons and Jennifer Liu, Town School for Boys (CA)
|
Management |
| Reinforcing Global Education Programs Post-Pandemic |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted global education programs at NAIS member schools. Travel opportunities became scarce and connections with others occurred mainly virtually. As we move into the next phase of the pandemic, join us to learn about trends in global education programming, connect with others in similar roles, and hear stories from other schools that have successfully implemented global programs throughout the pandemic. Also learn about the Global Issues Network (GIN), an organization that empowers young people to collaborate locally, regionally, and globally in order to create project-based sustainable solutions for our shared global issues.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn how to emphasize the value proposition of global education programs with boards, leadership teams, and school communities.
- Observe examples of how schools connect global education and diversity, equity, and inclusion work to teach global citizenship and intercultural communication skills.
- Learn trends in global education programs and study-abroad programs.
- Presenters: Ioana Wheeler, NAIS; Karina Baum, Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School (MA); Linda Sills, Global Issues Network
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Considerations for Teaching Hard Histories: Positionality, Perspectives, and Pedagogy |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Embedding anti-racist, anti-bias, and culturally competent practices into curriculum is critical to creating a schoolwide culture of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusivity (JEDI). To do this well requires a multifaceted, multi-year approach. Join us to learn a key strategy that helped us examine our pedagogy and curriculum to ensure we are building a culture of belonging and orientation toward justice. Share our primer for developing JEDI curriculum and a process for analyzing that curriculum to reveal gaps/redundancies. Take away some strategies to deepen your faculty's understanding of important and nuanced social justice and equity issues.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn curriculum strategies empowering you to become more skilled in supporting your schools JEDI goals.
- Learn to use a primer to further support your own implementation of anti-racist and anti-bias practices into curriculum development.
- Learn to analyze your own positionality and lived experiences while examining your own blindspots.
- Presenters: Alegria Barclay, Lick-Wilmerding High School (CA); Elizabeth Rossini, Agnes Irwin School (PA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| The Kids Are Not OK, Yet: Post-COVID-19 Support—and Structure—to Uplift Students |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: How can we help our students establish a new normal—academically, socially, and emotionally—as they rebound from the setbacks of the COVID-19 era? Join us to analyze troubling trends in high school performance and the transition to college and get a toolkit to rebuild resilience.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the deficits students face post-pandemic and their underlying causes.
- Identify structural solutions to uplift students and promote self-sufficiency.
- Reverse engineer student success from the first-year college struggle.
- Presenters: Jessie Royce Hill, Yale University; Amy Selinger, Buckingham, Brown & Nichols (MA); Tawanda Owens, Tpcosolutions
|
The Student Experience |
| Anti-Racist Read-Aloud Initiative: Supporting Student Identity Development, Agency, and Advocacy |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: From an anti-racist and anti-bias framework, detail the development of the Anti-Racist Read-Aloud Initiative and gain insight into ways to engage elementary students (PK-4) and their families in conversations through lessons and activities using picture books and children's literature. Explore considerations for various stakeholder groups and take time for discussion with colleagues.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Create developmentally appropriate curriculum that supports positive racial identity development for early childhood and elementary students.
- Get resources to engage families in conversations around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging topics.
- Share learning from reflection and an opportunity for a mutual exchanging of ideas on starting and sustaining such a program.
- Presenters: Kenneth Hamilton and Francis Yasharian Jr., Poly Prep Country Day School (NY)
|
The Student Experience |
| Do Say Gay: LGBTQ+-Affirming Schools |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Many educators wonder how and what to share with students about the LGBTQ+ history and experience and some struggle with how to reduce the prevalence and impact of anti-LGBTQ+ language and behavior in schools. Join trans author Drew Bensen and veteran queer educator Patti Hearn to share context, rationale, and actionable strategies for developing curriculum, policies, and day-to-day intervention strategies to make your classroom and school inclusive for all students.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Presenters: Patti Hearn, Verge Services; Drew Bensen, author
|
The Student Experience |
| Alphabets and Alpha Waves: Embedding Innovation and Learning Science in the Classroom |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Have you ever wondered how you could design, present, and test curriculum through the lens of the learning sciences? Come hear how one school has done just that by partnering with Stanford University on a Brainwave Learning Center, which has transformed teaching and learning for our entire community. Synapse School has embedded a one-of-a-kind neuroscience lab to do leading-edge research on its campus in order to advance teaching and learning on site as well as contribute to broader research in the cognitive sciences.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn about one model for advancing leading-edge research while ensuring excellence in the classroom.
- Identify existing practices that are aligned with the learning sciences as well as new avenues for improvement.
- Learn how to embrace a cycle of innovation in order to improve benefits for students and the broader community.
- Presenters: Jim Eagen and Elizabeth Toomarian, Synapse School (CA)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Design for Change! Understanding Systems-Based Thinking Through Video Games |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Join us to learn systems-based thinking through the lens of video game design, recognizing how to use progressive education to build a better education system through ungrading, purpose-finding, experiential learning, and more. K-12 educators and administrators who seek to reimagine their classroom spaces benefit most from this workshop. Video game knowledge not required!
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the concept of systems-based thinking and how to apply it to your classroom context.
- Synthesize the connection of video game design to progressive pedagogy.
- Recognize the expansion of systems-based thinking to further progressive pedagogy, such as ungrading and designing for equity.
- Presenters: Chris McNutt and Nick Covington, Human Restoration Project
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Teach “Unteachable” Subjects: Infuse Competencies like Creativity, Resilience, and Metacognition into Lessons and Instructional Design |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Educators recognize the importance of 21st century skills (like collaboration) and social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies (like mindfulness and curiosity). But over two decades into the 21st century, it’s uncommon to see deliberate strategies for teaching and measuring these important education components. Learn data-driven approaches for teaching these competencies through your existing subject content and curriculum and systematically gather evidence that learners are improving at them. Examine research-backed rubrics, sample projects, and activities across all subjects and resources that showcase teaching and learning techniques for developing and charting student growth at competencies, which you can integrate immediately into your classroom.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Develop strategies for deliberately teaching competencies through your existing curricular content and build a classroom culture of competency development.
- Learn techniques for gathering and utilizing low-stakes formative evidence of student proficiency at competencies to inform instruction.
- Break down concepts like 21st century skills or SEL into clear, actionable targets you can integrate into your learning outcomes.
- Presenters: Robbie Taylor and Carol Atwood, Center for Curriculum Redesign
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Myspace: Using Virtual Reality as an Empowering DEI Tool |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: There is a growing body of research that suggests virtual reality is an effective tool for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work, as it offers participants the ability to stand in another’s shoes. Examine the research substantiating virtual reality as an effective vehicle and watch 2D (YouTube) previews and demos of many DEI experiences currently available. Hear about one school's creation of a DEI virtual reality experience that centers joy and belonging for marginalized communities. Learn the technical requirements to bring it to your school using the free educational license.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn the current research on using virtual reality as a learning tool for building empathy.
- Observe much of the DEI content currently available.
- Understand how to bring Myspace to your school for free.
- Presenters: Lora McManus-Graham, Blake School (MN); Allison Graham, AlphaGirl Productions
|
The Student Experience |
| Creating Interdisciplinary Connections Through Signature Projects |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Teachers are always looking for ways to have students make meaningful interdisciplinary connections. After years of trying various methods, we have found a sustainable way to incorporate signature projects into our curriculum multiple times a year for each grade. Project Innovate, Architecture Expo, Shakespeare Study, and Teen Activism are just a few of the projects bringing in pieces from every subject area throughout the year. Teachers do not have to reinvent the wheel each year! Even with most of these projects ungraded, we have found that students engage, enjoy, and learn from these collaborative, in-depth projects.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Build authentic connections between various subject areas and your curriculum.
- Brainstorm topics that could connect or build upon existing connections.
- Find innovative ways to plan for and schedule interdisciplinary learning.
- Presenters: Lindsay Kelland, Shannon Schmidt, and Emma Parsons, Garrison Forest School (MD)
|
The Classroom Experience |
| Navigating the Reputational Minefield of Culture Wars |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Across the nation, schools are finding themselves in the crosshairs of political, religious, and sexual culture wars. Join communications expert Chris Lukach of AKCG – Public Relations Counselors and independent school lawyer Kristin Smith of Fisher Phillips as they review a series of practical principles and techniques to guide your communications during such a pivotal cultural moment—and to do so without deepening legal liability.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Learn practical techniques for improving community-wide dialogue and managing detractors.
- Learn to navigate both internal disruption and outside interest from the media.
- Ensure that culture change serves both the court of public opinion and the court of law.
- Presenters: Christopher Lukach, AKCG – Public Relations Counselors; Kristin Smith, Fisher Phillips
|
Communications and Advancement |
| Board Transparency: Seeing Through the Legal Looking Glass |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: In this era of extreme information sharing, expectations for board transparency are at an apex. Before diving into the transparency rabbit hole, let’s take a look through the legal looking glass of board transparency. Hear both the head of school and board chair perspective on how the board and the administration can partner to strategically respond to the areas where demands for transparency are greatest. Discuss issues that can arise when the board wants to speak proactively and gain best practices for executing board communications in a sound manner.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Get a primer on trustees’ fiduciary duties and how they impact communications.
- Gain strategies for how heads and boards can partner to respond to the areas where demands for transparency are greatest.
- Discuss potential legal pitfalls and hurdles to consider when planning strategic external board communications around hot topic issues.
- Presenters: Grace Chan and Casey Williams, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore; Pamela Jordan and Jeffrey Dvorak, Idyllwild Arts Academy (CA)
|
Governance |
| Trends in BIPOC Board Representation |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Heads of school, board members, and others responsible for governance, learn promising practices for increasing racial and ethnic diversity in your boards from schools in the California Association of Independent Schools, which leads the nation in board and head diversity for more than a decade. Review data and current trends in black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) board representation. Hear heads of school share insights, respond to your questions, and prompt candid conversation among attendees. Discover leading practices, hear multiple points of view, and gain both inspiration and practical application.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Hear the perspectives of heads who have successfully grown and managed board diversity.
- Compare your strategies to increase, support, and sustain an increasing number of racially and ethnically diverse board members.
- Compare strategies to improve board diversity in terms of race and ethnicity.
- Presenters: Cathy Shelburne, Carney, Sandoe & Associates; Shelly Luke, Wille Children's Day School (CA); Patricia Kong, Pilgrim School (CA); Mark McKee, Viewpoint School (CA); Luthern Williams, New Roads School (CA)
|
Governance |
| Leadership Sustainability and the Emotional Labor of Heads of School |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: The 2020 NAIS research study, Head Turnover at Independent Schools: Sustaining School Leadership, identified several factors that can impact leadership transitions, including the quality of the head-board partnership, trustees understanding their roles and responsibilities, and head of school stress. A critical and unexplored aspect of this stress is the emotional labor heads often endure when working with their boards. Join us to explore the nuances of what emotional labor is in the context of leadership and governance, the sites of conflict that exist when heads attempt to address complex institutional challenges, and how heads and boards can partner more effectively.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the definition of emotional labor in relation to headship.
- Examine the sites on conflict where emotional labor can exist.
- Explore ways to better understand and mitigate the impact of emotional labor in the head-board partnership.
- Presenters: Seth Yocum, Saint Paul's School (CA); Anne-Marie Balzano, Mission and Data
|
Governance |
| Designing Compensation Systems for Mission Congruence and Financial Sustainability—Now Is the Time |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Most boards have little or no knowledge of whether the salary and benefit system is mission specific and mission driven. Many school heads often have neither the time nor the inclination to examine the message that the salary and benefit structure sends about how teachers are compensated and rewarded. But now is the time to support our teachers, many of whom are feeling underappreciated. If we could start with a clean slate, what system would we build that would embody and serve a school’s mission, be financially sustainable and attract, retain, and reward high-quality teachers?
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Discuss the latest trends in faculty compensation and benefits.
- Examine what questions boards and heads should be asking about their current system of paying and evaluating teachers.
- Demonstrate how one school engaged in a colloborative process with teachers, board members, and administrators to design a new system.
- Presenters: James Hickey, Austin Preparatory School (MA)
|
Management |
| Leading, Parenting, and Growing Up in Public: Administrators and Their Enrolled Children Navigating Schools Together |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: When administrators enroll their children in the schools where they work, they make the choice to live more of their lives publicly. The opportunities and challenges that arise require everyone involved to navigate school life and relationships in ways that are often unseen and frequently overlooked. Prioritizing our roles as administrators while experiencing our schools through our children’s daily experience puts pressure on our professional and personal values. If not identified and addressed skillfully, this pressure can impact the well-being of administrators, children, their relationships, and the school itself. Join us to build understanding of this complex and vital dynamic.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Understand the intersectional combination of professional, personal, and parenting identities that arise for administrators, enrolled children, their families, and schools.
- Identify best practices for schools and administrators to implement in support of successful experiences for all individuals involved.
- Provide a space that elevates stories and strategies about an experience that is not always seen, understood, and validated.
- Presenters: Mitch Bostian, The Berkeley School (CA); Roslyn Benjamin, The Children's School (GA); Cheryl Ting, Saint Paul's Episcopal School (CA); Nate Lundy, San Francisco University High School (CA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Reimagining Supervision: Supporting Future-Facing Teaching and Learning |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Teachers are navigating radical shifts in how they support their students’ learning, so our supervision models need to amplify and support their effective effort. To this end, The Archer School for Girls engaged in a yearlong process to craft a more dynamic and responsive supervision process that stretches teachers’ growth edges and supports their well-being. Gain perspective into the how, what, and why of our post-remote-learning teacher supervision so you can return to your school with a roadmap you can use to reimagine your own processes after learning from our mistakes and successes.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Review a comprehensive process for reimaging supervision systems to support future-facing teaching and learning.
- Learn strategies for offering teachers choice, agency, and opportunities for reflection during the evaluation process.
- Using Archer’s process and experience, reflect on your current supervision system to better meet your goals.
- Presenters: Maggie Cenan and Karen Pavliscak, The Archer School for Girls (CA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Honoring Single-Gender Education While Embracing Gender Variance: A Path for the Future |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: As more young people identify as transgender or gender variant, historically single-gender schools are faced with questions about how to remain true to their missions to serve either girls or boys and be an inclusive community. Take a deep dive into a more nuanced understanding of gender from the perspectives of clinical and developmental psychology. Explore different strategies that leaders with experience at one East Coast school for boys and one West Coast school for girls used to serve the specific educational needs of boys and girls while simultaneously cultivating a community of belonging for all students and families.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Learning objectives:
- Deepen knowledge of gender identity and gender variance.
- Gain practical strategies to support gender-variant students in a single-sex school.
- Gain practical strategies to partner with parents of both gender-variant students and cisgender students.
- Presenters: Kelsey Schroeder, The Gardner Carney Leadership Institute; Catherine Steiner-Adair, The Garner Gardner Leadership Institute, Hamlin School (CA)
|
Leadership Development |
| Rebuilding Community Post-Pandemic Fellowship Workshop |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: Safety measures implemented by schools during the pandemic kept schools open but often negatively impacted school communities. As schools return to normal, they have the opportunity to recapture or rethink school culture. Explore data on the pandemic’s impact on school communities and selected solutions to cultivate and sustain school climate.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: Fellowship Workshop
- Presenters: Douglas Wong, Poly Prep Country Day School (NY); Jina Kim, San Francisco Schoolhouse (CA); Ryan Martin, St. Andrew's School (GA); Jenn Lindsay, Baylor School (TN) ; Sara Ringe, Whitfield School (MO); Sarah Schorn, Crystal Springs Uplands School (CA)
|
Fellowship |
| The DEI Practitioner in 2023 Fellowship Workshop |
6 |
Friday, February 24,
1:15 PM-2:15 PM |
- Summary: This presentation will provide helpful information to better understand the roles and responsibilities of DEI practitioners in independent schools today. Although every school has its own context and needs, a comparative examination of the DEI practitioner role provides best practices that can help schools to create and support these positions.
- Block: 6 (Friday, February 24, 1:15 PM-2:15 PM)
- Category: General Workshop
- Type: Fellowship Workshop
- Presenters: Karen Dye, Wildwood School (CA); Porter Hill, Fairfield Country Day (CT); Sarah Jacobson, Nichols School (NY); Adam Nye, Winchester Thurston School (PA); Canh Oxelson, Horace Mann School (NY); Ricco Siasoco, Urban School of San Francisco (CA)
|
Fellowship |