Administrative

Here you'll find information on the administrative side of running a private school. We'll cover strategic plan development, state regulations, human resources and school safety. Learn more about the obstacles of taking over a struggling school, get tips on hiring a headmaster, and receive expert advice on dealing with bad press.

View the most popular articles in Administrative:

Understanding Enrollment Agreements

Updated
|
Understanding Enrollment Agreements
Attorney Sara Goldsmith Schwartz answers my questions and provides some general guidance regarding best practices for enrollment agreements.

Editor's note:

I asked Attorney Sara Goldsmith Schwartz, whose "practice is focused on the critical issues facing school administrators and leadership," to answer my questions and provide some general guidance regarding best practices for enrollment agreements. This article is intended for the information of owners, administrators, and trustees of small to medium size private schools. ~ Rob Kennedy

The relationship between parents, students, and the school is determined by contract law. Can you tell us what that means?

The relationship between parents, students, and the school is based on a lot of documents, including the student/parent handbook, the code of conduct, the enrollment agreement, and more. The enrollment agreement, however, is the only legal contract, and it memorializes the relationship between the parents, students, and the school, binding the parties to the terms and conditions laid out in the agreement. The agreement assists schools in collecting tuition and fees in cases of non-payment and in assessing late fees in cases of late payment. However, a comprehensive agreement addresses far more than tuition and fees.

This short clip explains why contracts are important legal documents.

How can a professionally written enrollment agreement prevent litigation in the future?

A properly drafted enrollment agreement is a cornerstone of a school’s risk management strategy. For instance, it can help deter parents from bringing claims against the school, as well as help the

. . .read more

Interviewing the Over-prepared Teacher Applicant

Updated
|
Interviewing the Over-prepared Teacher Applicant
Some applicants can fool you when they interview. Here is some advice on how to prevent that while at the same time keeping the interview process simple and efficient.

I have been interviewing applicants for employment for many years now. I used to be fooled by a certain type of applicant who presented extremely well at the interview. Unfortunately, a few months after hiring the applicant, things did not go as well as we had hoped. With my experiences in mind and knowing that many of you are operating your schools with very small staffs and also knowing that you do not interview many teachers in any given year, let's look at a couple of simple ways which will protect you from hiring a teacher who is not a good fit for your school.

How not to be fooled

"First impressions matter. Experts say we size up new people in somewhere between 30 seconds and two minutes." Elliott Abrams

I agree wholeheartedly with Elliott Abrams. You and I are accustomed to sizing people up in a very short time. Essentially we are using the same skill set which we use in the classroom. As we teach, we are constantly assessing how our students are absorbing and understanding the material, right? We have honed that skill set very finely. So bring it into play when you first meet an applicant.

This short video offers some useful tips on interviewing candidates.

Trust your instincts

You have to trust your instincts and your experience when you are interviewing teachers for your school. I put that

. . .read more

How Sustainable is Your School?

Updated
|
How Sustainable is Your School?
How sustainable is your school and its business model? We examine some of the elements of a sustainable school.

How sustainable is your school? This article is written with small to medium-sized schools in mind. Larger schools can plan and use professional resources of all kinds to ensure their sustainability for the future. On the other hand, small schools typically have limited resources, to begin with. So with this in mind, I want to look at three aspects of how your school runs and offer some suggestions as to how we can ensure it will run for many years to come. In other words, let's ensure that your school is sustainable and will continue to be sustainable for many more years.

We are going to look at two types of day schools: for-profit schools and not-for-profit schools. A large number of primary schools are what we would describe as for-profit schools. These are the kinds of schools that a well-intentioned, visionary educator has established because she believes in a certain teaching style and wants to reach a certain clientele in her local area. I use the description of well-intentioned advisedly because many of these wonderful people have great pedagogical ideas but lack the business experience to make their school an ongoing reality. Here are some practical steps that the owner of a small primary school should take to ensure that her school stays viable.

Develop a business plan.

When you started your school, you knew that it was not enough to think that you could budget for, say, 50 students and charge tuition at the market rate,

. . .read more

Starting a Private School

Updated
|
Starting a Private School
Thinking about starting your own school? Here's an outline of what's involved.

Who in their right mind starts a private school? Starting any enterprise is a daunting project. Yet many parents and teachers are the impetus behind the dozen or so new private schools that appear on the scene each fall. Some schools begin modestly with a grade or two and grow by adding one grade a year. Other schools have much more elaborate plans. Why do these brave parents and teachers start a school? The main reason seems to be that they are passionate about teaching a certain way or adhering to a certain philosophy. Sometimes they do it simply because they want to run their own school and do things their way.

No matter what the genesis of the idea might be, the recipe for bringing a school into existence is straight-forward enough, although there are many ingredients. Staring a school requires equal parts persistence, business acumen, and vast amounts of patience. To those basic ingredients, you add huge lashings of money. Mix thoroughly. As you do, you discover that you will have to add more money regularly as the other ingredients soak up gobs of money.

This video offers an overview of starting a nonprofit organization like your school.

Here is a template for planning and opening your own school. Good luck! I did it. Lived through the experience. I still recall it as one of the best things I ever did.

36 months

. . .read more

Taking over the Struggling School: Before You Sign On

Updated
|
Taking over the Struggling School: Before You Sign On
First of a series of articles on managing struggling schools. In this article we discuss what you need to do before you sign on.

Most of us like to start a project and see it through from start to finish. Signing on to run a going concern is a pretty safe bet. But what about tackling something which is going to make enormous demands on your abilities, energy and experience but which has a lot of risk? Such as taking over a struggling private school?

Actually, taking over anything which is struggling entails a lot of risk. Anyway, you have talent and experience. So let's examine what's involved in investigating a head of school position at a struggling school before you sign on. Here are eight keys to a successful business turnaround.

First of all, let's agree to define the struggling school as a school which is having financial difficulties. Once you understand that you are going to have to do some very heavy lifting raising money, that will help you focus on what has to be done. The truth is that most struggling schools didn't arrive in their present condition overnight. This is train wreck which the previous head of school and the board saw coming for several years before now. Things have unfortunately gotten to the point that either the school gets turned around or it closes its doors for good.

Let's look at some of the reasons why a school finds itself facing difficult times.

Its business model is flawed.

A flawed business model usually is the result of the trustees and administration implementing programs and structures which do

. . .read more

Recent Articles

Leadership, Legacy, and Learning: Pillars of Top Schools
Leadership, Legacy, and Learning: Pillars of Top Schools
We explore the key elements contributing to the success of leading private schools, highlighting the importance of strong leadership, a rich legacy, and a focus on comprehensive learning experiences.
Secrets to Becoming a Great School
Secrets to Becoming a Great School
Discover the essential ingredients that drive academic success and cultivate a thriving school community.
All About JROTC
All About JROTC
Explore the multifaceted advantages of Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) programs in private schools. Delve into how JROTC cultivates leadership, discipline, and citizenship skills among students, contributing to their holistic development and future success.

Running a Private School