Andrea Anza

Chair, LS and MS Science Departments, Doane Academy, Burlington, NJ

WORKSHOP: Advisory - Where Each Student is Known, Loved, and Encouraged to Realize Their Potential

After teaching overseas for 4 years, Andrea Anza returned to the United States and for the last year has helped Doane Academy strengthen and grow the support structures for its Middle School students. Andrea brings a wealth of understanding of how to connect with students and help them grow to her daily role as middle school science teacher and academic advisor.

Brooke Carroll

Principal Consultant and Coach, Acies Strategies, MD

WORKSHOP: New Research on Leadership and Governance in Small Schools: Findings and Recommendations

Brooke Carroll, Ph.D. is Principal Consultant and Coach at Acies Strategies, supporting small schools through leadership coaching, Board development, and strategic thinking and planning. Brooke holds a doctorate in educational psychology and has over 20 years of experience leading schools and nonprofits. She has served on several Boards in various roles. Prior to consulting and coaching, Brooke was Head of School for nine years at Seneca Academy, an International Baccalaureate World School. aciesstrategies.com

Tanya Espy-Disparti

Assistant Director of Enrollment, The Calhoun School, New York, NY

WORKSHOP: Reducing Bias in Admissions

Tanya Espy-Disparti is a native New Yorker who is committed to ensuring that young people, from all communities, have access to a quality education. She currently works in Admissions in a Progressive Independent School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Kevin Gailey

Head of School, Midwest Academy, Carmel, IN

WORKSHOP: Culture Building in a Small School Environment

Kevin Gailey is the Head of School for Midwest Academy, a child centered progressive school for students with learning differences in grades 3-12/Post Grad.  Kevin enjoys sharing Midwest's story and is highly focused on strengthening the school's mission, developing its intentional culture, promoting staff development and enhancing all aspects of student programming.  He also appreciates the opportunity to assist other organizations as they make progress towards their goals and desires to develop a strong sense of community.

Jill Goodman

Jill Goodman Consulting, MD

WORKSHOP: Beyond Wine and Gossip: Parent Volunteerism as a Key to Advancement and Retention

Jill Goodman is a consultant with a diverse range of skills across the non-profit and educational sectors. With over 20 years of experience in developing high-level strategy, executing and growing core programs to forward the mission of numerous independent schools and organizations, Jill’s intense listening skills have helped her develop a reputation for providing exceptional results in executive mentoring, brand analysis, and fundraising initiatives.

Dave Mullen

Head of School, The Nora School, Silver Spring, MD

WORKSHOP: Mindfulness as Self Care

Dave Mullen has over 35 years of classroom and administrative experience. A long-time practitioner of mindfulness meditation, he has led The Nora School to be one of the nation’s Mindful Schools and to be the first US school to have the entire school participate in the Mindfulness in Schools Project.  In addition to college degrees in music and educational administration, he holds certification in the Dot B-Mindfulness in Schools Curriculum, the Mindful Schools Curriculum, and the New England Educational Institute Symposia on Mindfulness. In addition to his work at The Nora School he has taught mindfulness at the Food and Drug Administration and at both the Beginning Teacher Institutes and the Mentor Teacher Institutes at the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington.

Dana Nelson-Isaacs

Founder and President, DNI Consulting, CA

WORKSHOP: Using Data to Power Your Messaging Strategy

Dana has twenty years of experience working within and between all levels of administration and faculty, parents, students, board members, and other community stakeholders regarding a range of topics including enrollment management, communication, marketing, and parent and student satisfaction.

In addition to on-the-ground experience working within schools in various admission and marketing roles at four different institutions, Dana is an expert in market research, enrollment feasibility studies and strategic enrollment management projects. Additionally, she has led projects as a consultant in areas including parent satisfaction, admission office efficiencies, staff coaching, curriculum planning, and exit interviewing.

Dana currently serves as the coordinator of the Bay Area Directors of Admission consortium, consisting of approximately 75 schools. Among a variety of tasks to keep the group up and running, she is responsible for professional development planning and other organizational leadership.

Dana holds a BA in Psychology and an MS in Counseling Psychology. She lives in Northern California with her husband and their elementary school aged daughter. dniconsulting.biz

Michael Russell

Director of Studies and Academic Innovation, Doane Academy, Burlington, NJ

WORKSHOP: Advisory - Where Each Student is Known, Loved, and Encouraged to Realize Their Potential

Michael began his professional career as a field engineer before transitioning into education. For the last decade, he has taught math, science, and STEAM courses at Doane Academy while also spearheading numerous curricular and extracurricular initiatives. In his role as Director, he is responsible for cultivating a learning environment that recognizes and supports the unique talents of each Doane student.

Starr W. Snead

Founder & Creative Director, Advancement Connections, SC

WORKSHOP: Solicitation Savvy = Fearless Fundraising

Starr is the founder and principal of Advancement Connections, a firm dedicated to serving advancement professionals and volunteers in schools throughout the United States and internationally. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, Advancement Connections provides fundraising, constituency relations, marketing/enrollment, strategic planning and communications services exclusively to PS-12 schools.

Prior to Advancement Connections, Starr was the executive director of the Advancement Program Council (APC) in Washington, DC, and Starr has worked in independent schools since 1972 as a teacher, administrator and more recently as advancement director for Greenhill School in Dallas; Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City; and Ashley Hall in Charleston.

Namita Tolia

Head of School, Montclair Cooperative School, Montclair, NJ

WORKSHOP: Head of School Evaluation with a Focus on Partnership and Support

Namita Tolia has been the Head of School of Montclair Cooperative School since 2015 and has taught or led in progressive schools for twenty four years. She has served as a division director at Little Red School House and The San Francisco School. As a founding member of the People of Color in Independent Schools Bay Area Chapter and Asian Educator’s Alliance (AsEA), Namita’s areas of special interest include diversity in independent school education and women in leadership.

Valaida Wise

Adjunct Professor, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

WORKSHOP: New Research on Leadership and Governance in Small Schools: Findings and Recommendations

Dr. Valaida L. Wise (Val) is an educational consultant and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University where her research interests center on the impact of race, equity and social justice on families and organizational dynamics. An educator for more 20 years, Val received a Bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology from Syracuse University, an M.A.T. in early childhood education from Trinity College, Washington D.C., and holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from George Washington University.

A recent Brava award winner, Val has lectured nationally and internationally, most recently on the topics of early childhood education, Montessori education, leadership and diversity. She has presented at a variety of national conferences including the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). Val has written several articles on educational leadership in early childhood as well as Montessori Education. Her most recent article: A Critical Absence in the Field of Educational Administration: Framing the (Missing) Discourse of Leadership in Early Childhood appears in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation. She is a trustee on several professional, independent and charter school boards.

Beyond Wine and Gossip: Parent Volunteerism as a Key to Advancement and Retention

Jill Goodman, Jill Goodman Consulting, MD

Engaged and active parent volunteers benefit every aspect of a small independent school. They provide leadership, organization, and man/woman power for fundraising events, enrollment ambassador programs, and community building initiatives. Volunteers tend to make monetary donations to the school at a higher rate than their less engaged counterparts and are less likely to consider attrition when minor difficulties arise. So, why do faculty and administration (and some parents) cringe when the topic of the Parents Association comes up? In this workshop we will identify the disconnect between what motivates parents and what motivates the school staff in regard to parent involvement. We will explore the myths and realities of recruiting, managing, and stewarding effective parent volunteers and strategies for the staff members who rely on them. Through hands-on activities and sharing, participants will learn how to evaluate each program that involves parent volunteers for mission and brand alignment. Schools can conquer the divide through key tenets of respect driven management.

Reducing Bias in Admissions

Tanya Espy-Disparti, The Calhoun School, New York, NY

We all have bias. Identifying our own bias is the first step to reducing it.

This workshop is designed to allow administrators the opportunity to review their admissions process, step by step, and identify where it is welcoming to all and where it is not. We will do this by reviewing relevant terms, some examples of how bias shows up in our world, and strategies for reducing bias.

Culture Building in a Small School Environment

Kevin Gailey, Midwest Academy, Carmel, IN

We will discuss the process by which culture is built, culture development in general, and how change processes can be implemented. We will use the journey of Midwest Academy as an example of what is possible. By sharing the multi-year process of growth and several of the documents/models developed, participants should be able to begin to develop their own path to culture development, change, or maintenance.

We will talk about the good as well as that which needs to be altered or, given the opportunity, to grow further. Every school has aspects of its culture that should be treasured and held onto. Attending to these areas as well as those in need of improvement is vital to the process.

Come join the conversation.

New Research on Leadership and Governance in Small Schools: Findings and Recommendations

Brooke Carroll, Acies Strategies, MD

Valaida Wise, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

As educators working in small schools, we know that our communities and organizations are inherently different from our larger counterparts. Our small schools have distinct strengths and unique challenges that influence how we govern, lead, and manage, as well as how we teach. However, there is a dearth of research in the literature that focuses on the factors that impact leaders and Boards of small schools. This lack of research on small schools affects our collective ability to make distinctions when providing guidance in areas of “best practice” for leadership and governance. As two former Heads of small schools, we are on a mission to change that.

Join us as we discuss the findings from our initial qualitative study where we interviewed Heads of small schools around the country regarding leadership and governance. We present themes and recommendations for ways to think about and address the unique factors that small school leaders and Boards face. In addition, we will also engage the audience in a conversation about their perceptions of leadership and governance in small schools as we continue to build a body of knowledge to guide future research and recommendations for best practices.

Solicitation Savvy = Fearless Fundraising

Starr Snead, Advancement Connections, SC

Ask for what you need in a way that’s more likely to get it!  In this session we’ll figure out how to overcome the obstacles to effective gift solicitation.  It doesn’t take a lot to learn how to approach “the ask” with confidence, realistic expectations, and thorough preparation.  The coy, modest approach won’t work, so save that for your next dinner date – and don’t let your volunteers use it, either! Tips, techniques and case studies from this workshop will better inform your solicitation strategies, help you deal with donor reluctance, and strengthen your volunteer recruitment and training.  A packet of materials is included for each participant.

Using Data to Power Your Messaging Strategy

Dana Nelson-Isaacs, DNI Consulting, CA

Understanding your audience - who you are talking to - is key to effective marketing. Without good data, schools are often left using ineffective anecdotal evidence to build marketing plans. Using simple, solid research, you can pull together customer personas in order to create specific messaging platforms to reach your ideal audiences. Understanding how to use these pieces of data in combination with each other can be extremely effective guides for marketing strategy and planning, and small school see big impact when getting more nuanced with targeting messages. In this session, we'll discuss several research elements and how to use them to create your own customer personas. Attendees will receive practical tips that can be implemented immediately, along with longer term suggestions.

How to Manage 24/7 Social Media and "Off the Clock" Conduct

Susan Guerette, Fisher & Phillips LLP, Philadelphia, PA

Today’s school employees and students have access to an unprecedented level of technology, which impacts both operations and academics. As more students, parents, teachers and administrators tap into social networking sites and use email, texting, and the Internet for social communications, educational resources, admissions marketing and other purposes, the lines between what is personal and what can be regulated are becoming more and more blurred. Further, increasingly, social media use outside of the school campus is having a direct and significant impact on what happens in the classroom.

This workshop will analyze how social media can impact a school’s operations with respect to employees, from issues to be aware of when hiring, to what social media can be considered when disciplining faculty. We will discuss how schools should address teachers “friending” students and allowing students and parents to have unfettered access to the teacher’s private life on a social networking site. We will also review when a school can take action with regard to an employee’s posts on their own personal social media.

We will also review the challenges facing schools due to students’ increased use of social media and when, how, and to what extent a school should regulate and discipline students for their electronic behavior both during and after school hours. We will discuss when a school should get involved in off campus activity by students and review hypothetical situations to understand the school’s role is in cyberbullying and sexting situations.

Advisory - Where Each Student is Known, Loved, and Encouraged to Realize Their Potential

Michael Russell, Doane Academy, Burlington, NJ

One of the strongest benefits of a small school is the ability for faculty and staff to build meaningful relationships with students beyond the classroom through advisory programs. However, for many teachers being an advisor can feel like an unguided, extra prep period. Additionally, small schools often struggle to afford advisory programs the time and resources they need to be successful. During this student-facilitated workshop, participants will explore different models for advisory programs at small schools. They will also make use of various activities that help facilitate relationship-building, and finish the workshop by developing their own advisory activities in small groups.

Head of School Evaluation with a Focus on Partnership and Support

Namita Tolia, Montclair Cooperative School, Montclair, NJ

This workshop will describe how our school developed a system for evaluation and support of a new head of school from scratch, and not based on a pre-existing program. We used the NAIS best practices as our guide and as a small school, we chose to have a highly collaborative, supportive process. I’ll share the selection and composition of the Head Support and Evaluation Committee, the annual goal-setting process, calendar of meetings and feedback throughout the year, the NAIS HOS evaluation survey process, and our own committee's evaluation report and recommendations process. I will describe how we maintain a self-reflective and collaborative support process throughout.