Are You Ready for the Next Big Thing?

The more than 50 school leaders I have spoken with in 2022 are getting ready for the next big thing. Collectively, school leaders are putting the pandemic behind them and taking stock of their situation. They are surveying the damage left in its wake, considering options available, or marveling at the incredible gifts of students and donations that have come to their school. Many are evaluating and redesigning their programs to respond to the changes they have experienced at their school.

Leaders shared many reflections on the last two years, and there were commonalities among them:

·       Some boarding schools lost their pipeline of international students from Asia, and domestic parents wanted to keep their students close to home during the pandemic. Meanwhile, others saw an increase in boarding students for an immersive experience that was impossible to attain in a day school program. The schools with a Post Graduate program saw an increase in interest and enrollment for that program.

·       Some schools in urban areas saw the flight of families out of the cities and into the suburbs, seeking better public schools or independent schools with the campus and resources to hold in-person classes.

·       Those same urban schools and schools located in areas with less wealth might have seen an initial pandemic boom of students, but many left as soon as the public schools re-opened, only able to afford the tuition for a short time.

·       As wealthy families moved around the country to live in places they always wanted to without the constraints of a physical office, independent schools in those areas benefitted. Schools in the south, resort areas, rural areas, and coastlines saw an influx of students, making up for declining enrollment over the ten years prior.

·       Schools in wealthy areas where excellent public schools are a competition saw an influx of full-pay families that could have always afforded the school. Those schools are seeing a very low attrition rate as families see the value of their new independent school.

·       Many schools saw an increase in donors and embarked on some of the most successful fundraising initiatives in recent memory. Rather than large-scale campaigns, schools succeeded with mini-campaigns to fund specific projects.

With this new reality, there are several big things on the horizon for school leaders:

Building projects. With an influx of students or clarification of philosophy due to changing enrollment, some schools now need more space or a reallocation of space through renovation. The increase in wealth that moved to the area may make projects possible that were unimaginable before the pandemic. Some schools are dusting off the building plans drafted several years ago but put on hold due to financial constraints or the pandemic.

Culture shifts. With 50 to 250 new students arriving in the last two years, some schools have difficulty understanding and adjusting to their new culture. For example, a school that historically had an enrollment that hovered around 250 and is now at 430 can no longer say that every student that goes out for the play will get a role or that every student that wants to play soccer can join the team, or that the administration knows every student personally. Additionally, some students and faculty have not experienced the program in its entirety. Their reality of the school is not the same as those at the school before the pandemic, and they can feel frustrated or invalidated by continual reference to the way things were.

Mission alignment, value proposition, and operations. Some schools did not see an enrollment boom and are taking this opportunity to examine their mission, program and program delivery, and gain clarity on the types of learners best served by the program they offer. They are investigating tuition pricing, staffing needs, and inclusivity to ensure future sustainability.

Faculty salaries, housing, and culture. With home prices doubling or more in parts of the country, some schools can’t attract top talent without providing faculty housing. School leaders see faculty demand higher salaries to outpace inflation, flexible work schedules, or staff leave for higher paying jobs in the corporate world. Leaders see younger faculty members who have clear boundaries between work time and personal time and are unwilling to blur the boundaries in a way that previous generations might have.

Parent push-back. After inviting parents in to help with at-home learning and establishing a sense of transparency with parents about COVID policies and procedures, it stands to reason those parents expect to be part of all decisions the school makes, whether it be academics, advisory, athletics, or DEI practices. The “silent majority,” as one Head of School put it, that ran the school for generations, felt marginalized by the DEI efforts and are pushing their opinion forward to the board and administration. School leaders are grappling with heightened parent and student anxiety that has not abated in the wake of the pandemic.

Leadership changes. Some leaders have shared that they saw their school through the pandemic crisis and now want to move on. Others who might have waited a few more years to retire are exhausted and retiring earlier than expected. In some cases, the cultural shifts due to the pandemic became a flash point for leadership conflicts between boards and administrators, causing ideological impasses. The leadership changes can result in increased parent, student, and faculty anxiety, affecting all of the above.

Julie Faulstich is the former Head of School of Westover School, and in the next phase of her career, she has launched a wonderfully thoughtful blog. In a recent article titled, “Life is messy. Life is beautiful. So are schools - and that’s ok.”, she wondered,

“…why is it so hard for us as school people to have conversations about the messy reality rather than surface conversations? Can’t I really love my schools and value independent schools deeply and acknowledge the many difficult and complicated challenges in front of us?”

While, in Julie’s experience, leaders are not having real conversations with each other (and I agree with Julie, they should), they are indeed having real conversations with me. I take those conversations seriously and am honored every time a leader chooses to confide in me. A good consultant will listen intently, consider broadly, reflect accurately, and offer insight based on her deep understanding of the landscape and where this school fits.

As school leaders think about the next big thing, several leaders emphasized that relationship cultivation and building are the priority for this school year. “Trust is so tenuous right now,” remarked one Head of School. Several leaders told me they were planning ways to connect with constituencies and help them connect intentionally. Schools are human-centered places, and the ones that can keep a sense of community front and center in decision-making while remaining true to their mission, vision, and philosophy will be most successful.

Another Head of School said to me as we went down a Good to Great rabbit hole in our conversation, “It’s more than getting the right people on the ‘bus,’ I need to make sure that everyone knows where this bus is headed. It might feel like the right bus, but if they aren’t interested in going where we are, they need to find another ride.”

The author, Jill Goodman, is a consultant working with independent school leaders to advance their school’s mission, enhance their processes, and bolster their skills. Learn more about all services here.