EXPLO Elevate January 2024 Newsletter

Dear Friend,

Who is on the bus?

This time each year, I make my way to New Hampshire to spend a couple of days with school leaders at the AISNE Heads Retreat. AISNE always does a great job choosing presenters who often have me saying to myself, “I now have to think about this topic a little differently.” This year was no different. Great sessions all, but I do have to give a shout out to Wanda Holland Greene, Head of the Hamlin School. When a session starts with the workshop leader belting out a song from The Wiz, then a dramatic reading of a Mary Oliver poem, you get the notion this is going to be a little different. Wanda’s topic was timely. Who is on your team? Givers or Takers? Riders or Drivers? Ones or Fours? She made us all assess our teams and confront the facts. How much longer will you carry the Takers? Waiting is, in fact, a decision: a decision with consequences. Damage will be done until you find the courage to take action. For most schools, it’s contract season. Notwithstanding the fact that hiring can be tough, there may be no more important work for setting the stage for the next school year than determining who will be on the bus. Subtractions can really be additions, as I’ve so often learned myself. Talent really does beget more talent.

The School’s Mission: The First and Best Tool

By Ross Peters

Writing anything as a group is like well-meaning locals trying to give a stranger directions to an obscure address. The kind helpers all speak over each other and the visitor ends up taking a left at the big oak tree rather than a right. Most school mission statements sound similar to confusing directions. The more they say, the less comprehensible they are, and the less they create clarity and impact.

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Join Us!

The National Network of Schools in Partnership Conference

Expanding our Purpose: Leveraging Independent School Resources for the Common Good Presentation with Ross Peters, Elevate’s managing partner and Sara Mierke, Senior Consultant, alongside Tim Breen, the Head of Watershed School.

NAIS Annual Conference

Expanding our Purpose: Leveraging Independent School Resources for the Common Good three-hour workshop session.

Ross will also be reporting with John Gulla on the learnings to date of The Purpose Project. The Purpose Project examines and seeks to articulate the shared purpose of independent schools in order to understand and effectively communicate the positive place for independent schools in the shifting educational landscape.

NCAIS Lower School Educators’ Conference on January 31

Elevate Senior Consultant Susan Perry will be the keynote speaker

Holding the Umbrella, Offering Peace: Effective Leadership Strategies for Educators Navigating a VUCA World session with Susan Perry

NCAIS Women’s Leadership Conference, February 8-9

Susan will be presenting on Women in Leadership: Turning Towards Possibility.

I was in New Hampshire on primary day. It was a bit surreal. It’s only January, but I suspect the coming months are likely to be volatile, perplexing, and uncertain. Which has me thinking …

Good people, a good mission, and tending to them both, can be the best ballasts in choppy waters.

Moira Kelly

President, EXPLO