December 1, 2021

Crunch Time

December is an important moment in independent school planning, with three key groups completing plans for work that won't go into motion until the current school year is over. Directors of summer programs are finalizing recruitment of faculty and offerings, boards and heads are completing next year's budget, and enrollment directors are working diligently on retention of those families who've stayed on the bubble through the fall. In this edition of Ahead in the Count, I call for special summer programming for young learners focused not on getting kids back up to speed academically but on helping them continue building the emotional and physical stamina and the social skills they struggled with through the school year, and without which, academic learning will be slow. "Retention Crunch Time" outlines how experienced enrollment directors bring to fruition the concrete efforts they've made throughout the fall to retain new and continuing families. "Lincoln v. Douglas" describes a structured process for heads and boards to use in setting the tuition and salary pool rates of increase. It's a conversation that too many schools--even those that assemble detailed benchmarking data--leave formless resulting in conversations full of speculation, logic rabbit holes and high emotion. Deliberative, proactive planning is one of the hallmarks of independent school excellence, and December is high season for the work.