EXPLO Elevate shares good ideas, practices, and wisdom to help
schools and their communities flourish.

Dear Friend,

How can board members navigate an era of dizzying change without losing sight of mission?  

Boards face twin dangers: drifting from their sacred work or becoming paralyzed when decisive action is needed. Ross explores the critical "adaptability polarity" that board members must master – learning to preserve mission while embracing the beginner's mind that defines truly great schools. The most effective boards know how to walk the space between drift and stagnancy, recognizing that adaptability isn't just helpful for board work anymore: it’s now non-negotiable.  

Intent and Purpose

In the Fall issue of Independent School magazine, Ross argues that the unprecedented challenges facing American higher education – from government intervention to questions about fundamental purpose – extend directly to independent schools. In Naming and Claiming the Value of Independent Schools he draws on The Purpose Project's Statement of Purpose making a compelling case that now is the time for independent schools to unite around their collective purpose to preserve the critical thinking, intellectual freedom, and transformative learning that define excellent education. 

Recent conversations with board chairs and executive committees has had me thinking about Tolstoy. All happy boards are alike; each unhappy board is unhappy in its own way. 

As the complexity of running schools continues to intensify – navigating financial pressures, demographic shifts, changing family expectations, and evolving educational landscape – the role of governance has become exponentially more challenging. Yet most boards are trying to figure it out alone, often with frustrating results. I’ve taken a dive into how boards can move the needle more quickly in The Case for Board Coaches: The Time Is Now.

What if the most important cognitive skill for navigating uncertainty isn't more data and critical thinking?

While AI excels at logical processing and pattern recognition in data-rich environments, it fails precisely where humans thrive: in uncertain, volatile situations that require constructing stories about possible futures and making judgments with incomplete information. This uniquely human capacity, what Angus Fletcher calls "storythinking" is how we plan, envision consequences, and solve problems creatively when the rules keep changing.  In this age of AI, I explore why cultivating narrative intelligence will be a key component in the value proposition that justifies independent school tuition. What Human Minds Can Do That AI Never Will and What That Means for Schools.

Cognitive Apprenticeships and Ai-Generated Simulations

As AI eliminates entry-level positions where professionals traditionally learned their craft, we're witnessing the return of medieval apprenticeships. While corporations are pairing junior talent with executives in costly relationships resembling 15th-century guild training, AI simultaneously makes possible virtual apprenticeships that compress decades of rare, high-stakes decisions into months of practice. Two provocative articles explore this tension—one warning that "cognitive apprenticeships" risk creating Renaissance-style barriers to opportunity, the other arguing that AI-generated simulations offer the democratizing solution.

Know a School Nailing Curricular Review? Tell Us.

We're working on updating a piece we did several years ago on effective approaches to systemic curricular review. If your school or a school you know excels in this area, please drop me a line.

Need Help

We're always up for a conversation and helping you think through possibilities. Reach out to see how we might help as you navigate current challenges or look toward what's next.

See you in Seattle at NAIS Thrive 2026

The EXPLO Elevate team will be presenting twice. John Barrengos, along with Michael Peller, dives into: Navigating the Precipice: Assessing Your School’s Distance from the Cliff. While Ross and Damian Kavanaugh will present, The DEFCON Scale for Independent Schools: Strategic Response Through Clarity.  

The trees are turning here in New England and I can’t help but think that L.M. Montgomery in Anne of Green Gables speaks my mind in writing:

 “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

Moira

P.S.12 minutes of beauty and inspiration. The Hive Architect: Saving Britain's Wild Bees. Has me thinking ... what a great interdisciplinary project for students.

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