As some of you may know, I am a member of the ISACS Board of Trustees, and have been since 2008.  In addition, I am the Treasurer of the Board and a member of the Executive Committee.    If you are not familiar with ISACS, it stands for Independent Schools Association of the Central States.  There are 24 members of the ISACS Board of Trustees, and ISACS represents more than 230 schools in the 13 states of the Midwest region ("central states").  ISACS is the Midwest affiliate of NAIS, the National Association of Independent Schools, of which there are some 1,200 member schools throughout the U.S. and abroad. 

One piece of very exciting news that was just announced is that we will have a new President of ISACS in July 2014 and it is a woman for the first time:  Claudia Daggett.  Claudia has been the Executive Director of the Elementary School Heads since 2008. She has also served as an independent school consultant with Gregory Floyd & Associates, focusing on executive search, governance, strategic planning, and leadership transition planning.  Equally exciting is the fact that Claudia was the Head of School at Friends Academy (a Progressive school) in Massachusetts for 11 years, so we will have an ISACS President who is very familiar with Progressive schools.  Previously, she was the Head of the Lower School at Cape Cod Academy, the Assistant Head of School at Tenacre Country Day School in Massachusetts and the Assistant Head of Lower School at Garrison Forest School in Maryland. She began her work in Independent Schools teaching at two ISACS schools in Wisconsin: Armitage Academy in Kenosha and the Prairie School in Racine, WI, which is Claudia's hometown.

The ISACS mission is to promote the development of strong learning communities characterized by high achievements, social responsibility, and independence of governance, programs, and policies.  This goal is achieved through a rigorous accreditation process, targeted professional development programs, and focused support services. 

As the mission indicates, ISACS has two major areas of focus:  accreditation and professional development.  In order to be an accredited member of NAIS, a school in the Midwest has to go through the ISACS accreditation process.  The process involves a seven-year accreditation cycle  that includes (in various years of the cycle) a Constituent Survey; a Self-Study Report;  a Visiting Team to the School, which is a group of educators from ISACS member schools who evaluate a School on whether the School is delivering on its Mission and whether the School meets the ISACS standards of membership; and several additional reports on behalf of the School that deal with whether we are following through on the recommendations we received in our Visiting Team Report. 

Serving on a Visiting Team for another school is a wonderful professional development opportunity, and many of our faculty and staff have served on teams.  This fall, Head of Downtown Campus Suzanne Gorman served on a Visiting Team, as did Athletic Director Tony Butler.  In addition, I try to add new names to the list of those able to serve on teams each year. 

ISACS does an outstanding job of professional development for its member schools.  Every year the association puts on an Annual Conference, which this year is next week in St. Louis (last year it was in Louisville and our faculty and staff were able to attend), and brings in some of the leading experts in the field of education to keep us up to date on the latest thinking worldwide.  Kim Aberle from the Goshen Campus, Sarah Moran from the Downtown Campus, and I will be attending the conference.  Kim Aberle will be presenting a session at the conference geared towards early childhood and elementary teachers, librarians, and music teachers how to marry music and childrens' literature. Unfortunately, due to the fact that not many Independent Schools have Preschools, the conference is not as strong for our Preschool faculty, so Renee Hennessy and Karen Hopkins will be attending the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) conference in Washington, DC.  In addition to attending the conference on Thursday and Friday next week, Sarah, Kim and I will spend Wednesday afternoon visiting former St. Francis Goshen Head of School John Delautre's new school in St. Louis, Whitfield Academy, which is a grades 7-12 Progressive School.  We are looking forward to seeing John and learning more about the progressive education at Whitfield, as well as the speakers we will hear from at the conference!  

Development Dish

The 2013-14 Annual Fund

For those in the St. Francis community who have already given to the 2013-14 Annual Fund, we thank you so much for participating and contributing to the school!  Your contributions allow us to continue to do all the things that make St. Francis School so amazing.  You may already know that 100% of our faculty, staff and trustees have already given this year.  We also have 98% current parent participation on the Goshen Campus and have a great start at the Preschool and Downtown Campuses, both currently at over 70%.  As we wrap up our current parent drive, I know those percentages will grow, getting us closer to our 100% parent participation goal.

The "Our Good Earth" Gala

Gala Updates

Don't forget to mark your calendar for the next fabulous fundraising event - Imagine! on Friday, January 31st!  The Imagine! Art Auction and Scholarship Fundraiser chairperson Jane Tierney is ready to make this event one you won't want to miss.  More details to come...

November 27th - 

December 1st

Thanksgiving Break - NO SCHOOL