 Oct 18-20 at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia, Atlanta, GA DON'T MISS THIS: Be sure to register for the special dinner Celebrating Steve Robinson on Saturday, Oct 18. Cocktails at 6:00 PM followed by dinner at 7:00 PM. Advance reservations required ($65 per person). |
 Prototyping Portfolios
Students have often relied on personal portfolios to track their progress. Digital portfolios have taken that process to a new level, and are proving to be a powerful tool for teachers. Last year, Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, NC, launched the use of digital portfolios with its fifth graders. In the coming years, it plans to expand the use of digital portfolios to grades 3 through 12. The initiative is a way for students to track their progress and personalize their learning, and also give Ravenscroft a space to further develop and reinforce its leadership and digital citizenship curriculum. >>Read more. |
2014 SAIS Distinguished Service
Award Recipients
  SAIS is pleased to announce the recipients of the SAIS Distinguished Service Award for 2014! The SAIS Board of Trustees has named Dr. Marvin W. Lishman and Dr. Edward (Ned) Jordan Fox, Jr., as recipients in recognition of their long and distinguished careers in independent education, of which 25 years or more was spent in service to one school, as well as service to SAIS.
Lishman has served as Head of Magnolia Heights School in Senatobia, MS, since 1981, where he has guided the school's growth to its current enrollment of over 700 students. He has served in leadership roles for SAIS, SACS, MAIS, and AdvanceEd. He is currently the Secretary of SAIS's Executive Committee, and has served on the SAIS Board of Trustees since 2009.
Dr. Edward (Ned) J. Fox, Jr., devoted 52 years to the field of K-12 independent education. He served as Head of Charlotte Latin School in Charlotte, NC, from 1976-2001. Prior to that, he was Upper School Head at Collegiate School in Richmond, VA, and on staff at numerous other independent schools. He also served as interim head at six independent schools. He taught seminars on independent school administration at colleges around the country, including Vanderbilt University, as well as founding the SAIS Administrative Institute in 1983 and the SAIS Institute for New Teachers in 1985. Fox served in leadership positions for SAIS, NAIS, NCAIS, SACS and many other civic and charitable organizations, including service on the national board of the Cum Laude Society. During his career, he participated in over 70 SACS accreditation visits and led the development of the accreditation program for SAIS.
For more about Lishman and Fox or previous recipients visit www.sais.org/dsa.
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 Tweechme About Twitter
While a growing number of educators are using Twitter for professional development and to build their personal learning network, many still do not. According to Scholastic, only eight percent of K-12 teachers use Twitter. One reason often given is Twitter's seemingly chaotic look and foreign terminology. Novice users can become overwhelmed by the stream of 140-character tweets, finding it too complicated and confusing to use. Twitter-fan and technology pioneer Susan Bearden understands the barrier, which is why she created an app that teaches teachers to tweet. Tweechme is a mobile app that includes simple, short lessons for novice, intermediate, and expert Twitter users. >>Read more. |
Academic Planning for Online & Blended Learning
In-person kick-off session: October 20, from 1:00-5:00 PM
Presented by SAIS and the Online School for Girls
This blended course will help curricular leaders, department chairs, and senior administrators understand the academic implications, challenges, and advantages of online and blended learning for independent schools. During the course, participants will be exposed to national leaders and experts in online learning, including (and most importantly) experts within the independent school community.
This course is appropriate for schools that are beginning to incorporate online or blended learning into their curriculum, or that are contemplating doing so.
Following the in-person kick-off session on Monday, October 20, from 1:00-5:00 PM in Atlanta, participants will complete four weeks of online coursework (averaging four hours of work per week). The online coursework will be fully asynchronous, allowing participants to schedule their own involvement as their schedules dictate. The course will conclude on November 14. >>Info & registration. |
Trends in Individualized Learning
by Dr. Jeffrey L. Mitchell
Head of School, Currey Ingram Academy, Brentwood, TN
This FastStats explores whether independent schools have become more personalized and individualized in recent years. An objective and powerful way to answer this question is to assess staffing trends. In short, do we have more staff members per student; thus, all other things being equal, more individual attention? If we do, what staffing categories have seen increases? To make the comparisons proposed, data on enrollment and staffing was obtained from the NAIS DASL database. >>Read more. |
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Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III,
& Mark A. McDaniel
Reviewed by Donna Lamberti, Teacher, UMS-Wright Preparatory School, Mobile, AL
The word that continuously popped into my mind as I read Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning was "refreshing." For teachers and students looking for relatively simple, effective, and sensible advice about how to make learning last, look no further. This book gives you exactly what you are in search of. As I read the book, I wrote in the margins more times than I could count -- comments like, "Finally!" and "Yes!" along with exclamation point after exclamation point. In fact, there is so much good advice to unpack in this book that writing a short book review proved difficult. >>Read more. |
2015 Calendar of Events
Mark your calendars now for 2015! SAIS offers a variety of affordable, accessible, and relevant professional development programs for independent school leaders each summer. Pre-registration open now with no money due until spring. Reserve your seat today!
See the full SAIS calendar of events at www.sais.org/events.
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 SAIS Board of Trustees
Nominees for 2015
The SAIS Board of Trustees proposes the following slate of new trustees for service beginning January 1, 2015:
JAY UNDERWOOD, High Meadows School, Roswell, GA
SARAH WHITESIDE, The Altamont School, Birmingham, AL
The membership will have the opportunity to vote on these trustees at the SAIS Annual Business Meeting, which takes place during the Annual Conference, on Sunday, October 19, at 12:00 PM. Register for the conference at www.sais.org/AC. |
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Blogs of Note
Kim Rice, Community Manager at Fort Bend Christian Academy in Sugar Land, TX, shares how the school plans to focus on a spirit of service in the coming year.
Enjoying the OrdinaryKatherine Harrison, Interim Preschool Director at The Walker School in Marietta, GA, shares how her preschoolers teach her to slow down and honor the small pleasures and discoveries in life.
Payton Hobbs, Lower School Principal at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, NC, shares an exercise during which the faculty asks questions about how they can grow or improve their classrooms in the coming year.
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The madness of multitasking, putting service first, understanding millennials, blue ribbon schools, and more!
Read more tweets here.
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SAIS Survey Center
Visit www.sais.org/surveys to see the stakeholder surveys available to your school community. SAIS has created a series of highly reliable and valid stakeholder surveys for use either in conjunction with a strategic visioning process or just to take the pulse of your community. Be sure to check out the video, sample questions, timelines, and sample reports.
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Benchmarking Data Collection
This year's benchmarking data collection is being conducted in conjunction with NAIS and DASL. This is important information and all SAIS schools (even those not members of NAIS) are invited and encouraged to participate. If your school has not already received login instructions and credentials, please visit http://dasl.nais.org.
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