SAIS Between the Lines
December 2012
2013 SAIS Finance Institute | January 28-29
Learn to Speak Your CFO's Language

January 28-29 | Atlanta, GA

 

The 2013 SAIS Finance Institute will be led by veteran school business officer Barb Egan (CFO, Woodward Academy, Atlanta, GA), and Dale Cermak Mullarkey, who has over 19 years of experience in the education and employee benefits fields.

 

The curriculum will cover a variety of aspects of day-to-day business operations and is an excellent view into school finance and the worries of the business manager's office. It helps those who are primarily from an academic background better comprehend the complexities of school life and just how many moving parts there really are.

 

Get all the details and register here

Grant Lichtman Wrap-Up
Anchors, Dams, and Silos

 

If you read Grant Lichtman's blog, The Learning Pond, chronicling his educational journey across the nation in pursuit of innovating schools in the hopes that you'll discover a template for innovation, you're likely to be disappointed.  What he's learned through his travels is that there is no easy tool-kit for schools to use, no simple "Innovation for Dummies" approach to ensure sustainable and systemic change.   MORE ...

Test Your Innovation Quotient
Asking the Right Questions

 

At the 2012 Learning Forward Annual Conference, Howard Gardner, in a thought leader lecture on his new book Truth, Beauty and Goodness Reframed: Education for the Virtues in the 21st Century, closed with this remark, "I haven't come up with the answers, but I think I have the right questions."  With this quote, Gardner highlights an important step in the process of instituting positive and essential change in education: asking the right questions. MORE ...

Charting a Direction for Online Learning
What are the Opportunities and Challenges of Online Learning at Your School?

Join us for a blended course that will help administrators do a "deep-dive" into online learning, and the opportunities and challenges that online learning presents for independent schools.  It will cover both the strategic decisions that schools face and the practical issues for implementation of online learning within a school.  Particular focus will be spent on pedagogical and financial implications for schools.  During the course, participants will be exposed to national leaders and experts in online learning, including experts within the independent school community.

 

This course will consist of both online assignments and interactions plus two in-person, day-long workshops held at The Lovett School in Atlanta, GA. Participants should expect assignments to take approximately 4-6 hours to complete (about every three weeks).  The in-person workshops will begin at 9:00 AM and end at 2:30 PM on February 19 and June 10. Schools are encouraged to send teams of 3-5 people.  The cost is $1,250 per person and registration opens on Monday, December 17.  The course is limited to 30 participants; register early to ensure your spot.

 

Additional information and registration (after December 17) here.

Announcements
Jack Stanford

 

Jack B. Stanford, 82, of Chattanooga, died on Friday, December 7, 2012.

 

After graduating from the University of Chattanooga, Jack was a teacher, coach, summer camp director, admissions director, and assistant headmaster at Baylor School in Chattanooga (1953-1972).  He was then the headmaster of Presbyterian Day School in Memphis (1972-1979), and president and headmaster of The Hutchison School in Memphis (1979-1995). During this time, he also served as a board member of the Tennessee, Southern, and National Associations of Independent Schools.

 

Read the full obituary here.

Book Review | Why School? by Will Richardson
Examining Education's Present Purpose

 

If you've been a teacher for any length of time, then no doubt you've been asked by students why they have to know, read, or study whatever subject you are teaching. Often, teachers respond that the knowledge is necessary to succeed in next year's class or ultimately college. Education's payoff becomes delayed, a lesson in patience for perhaps the least patient among us.  In a short, popular e-book, Will Richardson, educator and prolific blogger, examines education's present purpose, truncating that ubiquitous student question to two words: Why School?  MORE ...

Featured Blogs
Check Out These Blogs ... view online here

 

A Trip Back in Time Inspires Respect for Democracy
Duke School (NC) 5th grader (yes, you read that right!) Josh Leffler shares how a field trip to Williamsburg sparked his interest in the national election.

 

It's 10 o'clock, do you know where your children are?
Walker (GA) Upper School Principal Bob Murphy reminds today's parents that safe in bed doesn't equate to safe on the Internet.

 

It's Never Too Late to Follow Grant Lichtman's Ed Journey
Mount Vernon Presbyterian Head of School Brett Jacobsen reminds us of why we love the Internet.

 

If you get all As, we'll buy you the new iPhone.
Darlington School Counselor Chris Allen discourages the carrot and stick motivational model, promoting instead a "heart-based approach (that) shares values and reasons behind rules."

 

Is 49.6% the new "C"?
Brainerd Baptist (TN) Head of School Sean Corcoran questions how his state evaluates success for its students. 

  

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IN THIS ISSUE
Finance Institute
Grant Lichtman
Innovation Quotient
Book Review
Blogs of Note
Quick Links

Newsletter Archive 

President's Page 

Contact SAIS Staff 

lunch&learn v1
Lunch & Learn
with Allen Broyles 
January 25
Neuroscience, Learning Differences, and the Students You Might be Missing Out On ...

Allen Broyles, Assistant Head of School and Middle School Principal at The Howard School in Atlanta, will lead participants through the research and describe why the current "sit still" model of classrooms works against the brain's evolution. There are really bright kids who mainstream schools often don't support, but most colleges do (i.e. students that mainstream schools might consider differently in the admissions process). 
 
Visit www.sais.org/lunchandlearn to register and also be sure to check out Allen's video "Brains, Brains, Brains" at www.sais.org/talks. 
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Administrative Leadership Institute
June 19-21 | Atlanta, GA
MICHAEL THOMPSON and ROB EVANS will lead this program, which is intended for those who supervise adults, evaluate teachers, and/or work with parents. 
The curriculum will be appropriate for a variety of administrators. Registration opens in January. 
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Institute for 
New Teachers 
Summer 2013
Atlanta, GA
Memphis, TN
Charlotte, NC
The Institute for New Teachers is an innovative and experiential must-attend workshop for every teacher new to teaching - or just new to the world of independent schools.  This hands-on institute covers many topics related to teaching in an independent school environment 

Make plans now to send your new teachers to this enriching program.  Registration opening spring 2013.
Happy Holidays
The board and staff of SAIS would like to wish you and your school community a happy holiday season.  
 
Please note that the SAIS office will be closed from December 19-January 2.  We look forward to seeing you at an event in the new year!