ISC Welcomes New
Heads of Schools!
At least 130 new Heads/Directors officially took on their new positions this month. We wish you the best at your new schools.
A Special Welcome to the New Association Leaders…
Southern Association of Independent Schools: Stephen P. Robinson
California Association of Independent Schools: James McManus
North Carolina Association of Independent Schools: Linda Nelson
National Association of Episcopal Schools: Rev. Daniel R. Heischman
|
You are receiving this e-mail newsletter to help you and your school remain informed and current.
If you have any questions or comments about this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive ISC insights, please send us an email by clicking here.
For more information on ISC, please visit us online at www.isc-erh.com.
|
| Spotlight on ISC Services: Strategic Planning |
All organizations depend on forward planning to focus collective attention on priorities, goals, and direction. Schools cannot foresee their future condition or outcomes without a design or system that directs their financial and human resources efficiently in the context of the school’s mission.
ISC offers extensive experience in advising and guiding independent schools in planning at the “macro” (strategic/long-range plan) and “micro” (individual program or department) levels. We have a depth of understanding of and an acute sensitivity to the essential steps involved in assessing a school’s strengths and needs. And we have a long track record of success in creating and facilitating planning analyses and processes in schools that allow their members to function as the “architects” of their own destinies.
The first step towards developing a plan for
your school's future is through an annual Board Retreat...and the summer months are the perfect time for this!
To talk with an ISC representative about beginning the planning process, please contact either:
Dave Skillen
770-828-4974
drskillen@isc-erh.com
or
Ted Lingenheld
919-264-8636
eclingenheld@isc-erh.com.
We look forward to hearing from you.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
A Powerful Email Campaign
Service for Schools
ISC is pleased to bring you Links2Schools, a powerful email campaign database and management service for school leaders that wish to get the attention of a broad cross-section of independent school leaders in the
U.S.
ISC built and maintains a national compre-hensive database of independent schools and their administrative teams. The Links2Schools database represents all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and includes more than 2,400 schools and over 7,400
administrators.
Links2Schools utilizes a custom-built, web-based, email marketing software program to facilitate the execution of customized email marketing campaigns personally addressed to individual school administrators in designated geographic areas.
With the unmatched depth and accuracy of this database, and the reliability of our web-based interface, Links2Schools offers an affordable opportunity to utilize a strategically targeted and accurate database to conduct personalized email contact campaigns, enabling the contact or sharing of information
with independent schools nationwide.
Links2Schools is a service of Independent School Counsel, Inc.
LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Pricing and Contact information (PDF)
State Chart and Contract (PDF)
(Adobe® Reader® needed)
|
|
| As You Prepare for the New Year... |
| During this time of refreshing, relaxing, and brainstorming in preparation for the new school year, we would like to bring you some resources that address administrative leadership and character development as a continuation of our last issue on different leadership perspectives. We also bring you more personal insight into successful headships in our exclusive interviews with seven different Southeastern school heads. We hope you enjoy this issue as we draw near to the end of the summer. |
| Cultivating Leadership in Our Schools |
| The following article features an autobiographical account about how the author understands the pedagogy of leadership. He draws from personal experiences from different parts of the world to address how we should teach leadership in our schools.
Link to article
Source: Fish, T. 2007. Flaring the Flame. Independent School Magazine, 66(2), 18-22.
This article describes the importance of student participation in extracurricular activities and its relevance to academic achievement. Read about how school size also plays a role in student participation.
Link to article
Source: Black, S. 2002. The Well-Rounded Student. American School Board Journal, 189 (6), 1-5.
Top
|
Developing Performance and Moral Character
in Our Schools |
| This article describes two researchers’ quest to discover why schools hardly address the need to help students develop both performance and moral character, which leads them to redefine what they mean. Practical application to understanding both types of character is also included.
Link to article
Source: Davidson, M. & Lickona, T. 2007. Smart & Good: Integrating Performance Character and Moral Character in Schools. Independent School Magazine, 66(2), 24-30.
The last page of the following e-newsletter features 12 strategies for developing performance and moral character for success in school and beyond.
Link to article
Source: Davidson, M. 2004. Developing Performance Character and Moral Character in Youth. The Fourth and Fifth Rs: Respect and Responsibility, 10(2), 6.
Top
|
Differing Perspectives: "Virtual" Interview with
Southeastern Independent School Leaders (continued) |
|
For our last Insights issue, we asked eight
Southeastern independent school leaders about their thoughts on many different education-related topics, including the challenges they face with parents, addressing diversity, applying both macro- and micro- attention to their schools’ many facets, and their visions of the school of the future.
The diverse range of their responses brought to light interesting insight about today’s independent school leadership in the South.
We learned that during the last 20 years, Southern schools appeared to be spending more time on character development
and relationship-building than did schools elsewhere. Also, each
head of school’s different journey to becoming a head provided us with different perspectives as to how one develops leadership and character.
Click on the following link to read personal accounts on how the featured head of schools got to where they are today.
Link to interview
Virtual Interview with Southeastern Independent School Leaders
Top
|
| Insights May 2007 Issue: Survey Results |
| Independent School Leadership
In our last issue, we asked readers whether independent school leadership qualities were innate or nurtured and how their schools inspired learning in their students. The following summaries reflect the responses that we received. We would like to thank those who participated in our survey!
1. Some people believe “either you got it or you don’t”. Others believe that leadership can be developed. Is independent school leadership something that can be taught or nurtured? Or are administrators born leaders?
We come across people who fit both classifications of leadership. There are leadership qualities that one can be born with that allow him/her to become a leader. At the same time, it is possible for those without these traits to acquire and develop them over time. Leadership qualities also can change over time, for better or for worse. Leaders can also lose certain traits. Leadership can therefore be considered a dynamic trait, not a stagnant characteristic.
2. In today’s high-speed world of technology and media, how does your school inspire a consistent longing for learning in students?
It is vitally important to have passionate teachers who instill the desire to learn about the subject(s) they are teaching. We should take advantage of the fact that our ability to express emotion and energy about a subject matter can be used to instill an enthusiasm for school. This method can be the most influential path that helps create a longing for learning.
In today’s world, it is often emphasized to “get the grades and do well”. It is extremely important that our schools implement a passion for learning for life, and not for an exam or grade. Implementing challenging activities, encouraging creativity in the academic program, and incorporating more hands-on experiences for the students can also help bring about an active and energetic attitude about learning.
|
|
