HOS Highlights
September 23rd, 2015
“We succeed only when students succeed. That is our goal. That is our passion. That is our work.” Nate Davis
What's new?
- Here is the link to last week's Leadership Academy in case you missed it.
- WE WANT YOU! ... for the National Head of School Summit! - We are looking for HOS volunteers to help plan this year's National Head of School Summit to be held January 11th - 15th 2016. We want to make this year's summit the best ever and want you to help us design the best experience for you and your colleagues. More information regarding how you can join this work group will be shared on this Friday's National HOS Call!
- Calendar Change: This Friday, September 25th is our National Head of School call. Please note: Leadership Academy #2 begins on October 9th. More to come on this change during this week's call.
- Action Item: Please email your leadership mantra to your RVP/DRVP by September 23rd. They would like to see what you have been working on. Also, please upload your Mantra Poster to Dropbox. If you were not on last week's Leadership Academy Call, here are video directions for creating a Mantra Poster.
- Action Item: Please fill out the Head of School in the Spotlight survey. You will also need to upload a head shot to dropbox using this link.
- Action Item: If we don't measure it, we can't improve it...and we want to improve it. Please take a moment to fill out our Leadership Academy Cycle 1 (Explore U) End of Cycle Survey. This will help us improve Leadership Academy Cycle 2.
- Action Item: Read through the Leadership Academy content and curriculum document and determine which standard you feel is your greatest strength. Then, fill out the form below so we can begin forming your groups. Please complete this form today.
Head of School in the Spotlight
Cassie Barton
Schools: ISKS/KSVA
Began: July, 2012
Superpower: Constantly reflecting to make improvements that benefit our students and remaining very chipper at all times
Fun Fact: My dad was in the military, so I was born and lived in Germany the first few years of my life. My life-long dream is to go back with my parents and have them show me all the places we visited that I don't remember.
Advice to Leaders: Always look at things from others' perspective - leaders make the best decisions when they understand how it will impact all involved.
Board Agenda Building Session #3
Video Introduction and Questions to ponder.
As a result of this training, you will be able to frame an agenda for your board meeting and understand the purpose of indexing board action. This video is filled with good information however it is a bit lengthy at 20 min.
Here are some checkpoints depending on your level of expertise with the topic:
- 2 min mark- Agenda Introduction
- 5 min mark- Communications
- 7 min mark- Scheduled for action
- 9:15 mi mark- Closed session and Closing procedures
- 11:30 mi mark- Proposal development
For those of you that understand this process and have a plan in place you can begin watching at the 14 minute mark where I share best practices.
Be prepared to answer these questions on Friday's Leadership Academy call
Questions to Ponder:
Share what a successful board meeting, looks, sounds and feels like from the perspective of a board member? From the perspective of families? From the public’s perspective?
What are some best practices you have used for maintaining confidentiality? Does the board have action for a closed session?
How might you improve your system for sharing supportive documentation to the board and improving your system for sharing adopted board policies with staff/families? How might you leverage technology for improving your system?
Do you have an indexing system for board action? How is it maintained and reviewed?
How do you envision teaching staff and students presenting to your board?
What systems to you have in place on the front end for ensuring that board meetings are successful?
Which sections of your agenda's that could be strengthened to improve the board meeting experience?
Head of School Professional Development - What's on the Horizon?
School Services/Department Updates
National HOS Call This Week!
HOS Call in Lieu of Leadership Academy This Week
As noted on the 2015-2016 iLEAD PD Calendar, this coming Friday, September 25th, will serve as a National Head of School Call.
We will move back into our Leadership Academy on Friday October 9th with Cycle 2: "Build It and they will Come". You will have the opportunity to build out a full Leadership Academy Cycle in one of your strength areas. Please note the change of date.
Enrollment Tips and Tricks- Week 4 of 5
The purpose behind the Marketing and Enrollment calls is to provide Enrollment data and metrics, share Marketing updates, plans and information session results, and to communicate school needs and updates. It is important to attend these meetings consistently, to ensure you are aware of your enrollment performance; we want to meet your needs in a timely manner.
Please send agenda items to your Enrollment Services Manager and/or Regional Marketing Director if there are specific topics you want to discuss on the call.
We would be happy to provide you additional insight into the following areas:
· Do you want to see what school-specific information agents are sharing with families about your school? Your ESM can arrange to share their screen and provide you a live look into the Knowledge Base!
· Have you seen what the Parent Portal looks for families applying to your school? We are more than happy to share screen shots of each page of the Parent Portal!
· We enjoy sharing our training tips, training alerts and mystery shopping results as well. Feel free to let us know what would be most helpful for you!
· Share photos of your staff, students and school activities! Feel free to provide stories from your families. We can share these with your enrollment agents, so they get more insight and a deeper understanding of your school! Agents love feeling more connected to you and your school!
In addition to attending the weekly or bi-weekly meetings, think about whether you and your team could make a trip to visit our Knoxville Enrollment Center this year! You could meet agents, supervisors and managers, listen to parent calls, and provide additional school –specific information to the team.
We look forward to “seeing” you at our next Marketing and Enrollment call. Best wishes for a successful school start!
· Christa Patton, Sr. Director, Enrollment Support
· Jackie Haynes, Sr. Manager, Enrollment Services
· Sharon Deliee, Central Region Enrollment Services Manager
· Andrew Fridey, Western Region Enrollment Services Manager
· Christina Teller, Northern Region Enrollment Services Manager
Hunter Bower, Southern Region Enrollment Services Manager
Teacher Pulse Checks
We have just completed the Teacher Pulse Check (TPC) survey for all cohorts of Survey #1. Below is an overview of distribution and participation (Overall participation rate: 46%):
HOS Survey on Surveys
HOS will be asked to provide information on their school/board/authorizer survey needs during Friday’s National HOS Call. Additionally, feedback will also be asked regarding the Spring Teacher Satisfaction and Culture Survey and if the current questions are meeting your needs.
Cheers to You!
- I am cheering for Mark Christiano for getting us excited through his enthusiasm around new ideas and how to incorporate them into his program
- I am cheering for Josh Williams from TVNA for setting high standards and clear expectations for students and teachers.
- I am cheering for Joel, for I know how hard the first month is with a new school. He has held strong against many waves and many questions.~From Josh
- I am cheering for Monti Pittman from Idaho for taking on the CTE Model.
- I am cheering for Perry Daniel from LAVCA for his encouraging mentorship for me as I began the new school year! Thank you, Perry!
Let's Celebrate! We would like to highlight your Cheers in the next HOS Highlights newsletter. Feel free to cheer for regional teams as well as your fellow HOS's. Please submit your cheers on the form below.
Past issues of the HOS Highlights
Reoccurring Information Below
The Leadership Academy Basics
- Weekly Leadership Academies begin at Noon EST every Friday afternoon and run for 90 minutes
- Here is the participant link.
- It is highly recommended that you participate in the weekly academies via BBC because the classes are going to be interactive. Your experience will not be as rich if you join via phone only
- Pertinent school services information that was typically presented during Friday HOS calls will be shared via regional calls, the weekly HOS newsletter, or monthly national HOS calls
- This newsletter will have all of the information you need for the upcoming training and will arrive in your inbox every Wednesday morning
2015-16 HOS National Professional Development Calendar
iLead@K12/School Leadership Development & Support Team
2015/16 Leadership Academy Content and Focus
2015-2016 Leadership Standards and Practices
Leadership Academy #1- "Explore U": YOU are the focus of Leadership Academy #1 entitled, Explore "U". Throughout the first seven weeks we will focus on your strengths as indicated in the Myers-Briggs assessment most of you took in January, 2015. Throughout the cycle you will build upon your strengths and learn to leverage those strengths to minimize weaknesses.
Leadership Academy #2- "Build It and They Will Come": Your knowledge and expertise will be leveraged to build out content for one of the leadership strands. Each School leader chooses one standard to work with over the course of the 7 week cycle. The goal will be to codify your expertise within the leadership strand to build a complete leadership Academy cycle in your area chosen area.
Leadership Academies #3-5-: Once the content is built, you will choose one strand to focus on for the remaining cycles. Choice is built into the process and we would like you to choose two standards. We suggest you work with your RVP/DRVP to choose one leadership strand that you would like additional support in. The strands include: Strategic Leadership, Instructional Leadership, Community, Human Resources, and Organizational Management.
iLead@K12 Team
The iLEAD team leads the design, development, execution, and evaluation of national programs that build exceptional school leadership across K12’s network of managed schools. The team coordinates school, regional and national efforts to improve leadership practice and school outcomes.
Mike Kazek
Board and Partner Relations