TABS 2016 Conference Concurrent Sessions
Thursday, December 1st
Complimentary Sessions 1:30pm – 2:45pm
CC-1 Admissions Practices and Inclusion: Making The Right Choices
Admission, Enrllmnt, & Fin.Aid
In this lively and interactive program, experienced school counsel will explore legal mandates, best practices and practical guidance about the increasingly complex world of boarding schools’ admissions policies and practices. Through real-world scenarios, the session will review best practices for interacting with students and applicants who may be disabled, how to manage risks associated with interviews and on-campus visits, documenting the process and delivering the good (or bad) news.
Sarah Fay, Attorney, Schwartz Hannum PC, MA
CC-2 Emotional Intelligence, School Culture and The Rise of the Transgender Movement
Residential & Student Life
How does the dramatic appearance of transgender and gender non-binary students offer educators the opportunity to consider that curriculum and school culture may reflect previously unconsidered biases, and how those biases affect all aspects of school life?As schools focus curricular attention on social justice and inherent cultural assumptions on race and class, those discussions remain incomplete unless they include the nature and impact of gender identity. This session is for anyone interested in exploring the interrelationship between mindfulness, gender and the growth of emotional intelligence. We will also spend some time on Transgender 101-understanding the basics.
Policy and Practicality
We are seeing significant national and local media coverage about transgender bathroom and locker room use, dormitory placement and athletic team participation. How boarding schools handle these "hot button" issues, as well as bullying and micro-aggressions, will have dramatic impact on their communities' cultures. This session is for all involved in crafting school policy and culture and anyone interested in the nuances of the daily challenges of being trans.
Alex Scott, Principal, Alex Scott Consulting, DC
CC-3 Tempers, Turbulence, and Touchdowns: Leading School Transformation
Academic Administration
Leading change is difficult and scary, yet paramount to our schools’ continued success and sustainability. Based on our work at Pomfret, we will share tips for managing tempers and resistance, smoothing out the ups and downs of progress, and making wins count and grow.Participants in this session will leave with an idea of how to develop a multi-year action plan to lead their school through the travails of school change and transformation.
Jamie Field Baker, Chief Academic Officer, Pomfret School, CT
Timothy Richards, Head of School, Pomfret School, CT
CC-4 A Mindfulness Meditation Practice Improves Relationships
Health & Counseling
Join this session to examine the question: "Does a Mindfulness Meditation (MM) practice by a professional result in improved relationships with others?" The paper links current definitions, to various MM techniques being applied in the helping fields, to identifying symptoms of stress and burnout in the professional, to how a professional establishing a MM practice improves self-care skills, resulting in strengthened relationship building skills with others.
Dr. Laurie Redfield, Director of mental Health, Hebron Academy, ME
Friday, December 2nd
A Sessions 10:30am – 11:30am
A-1 Assessing Faculty in a Triple Threat Model
Heads & Senior Management
Assessing faculty in a triple threat model can be difficult. How do you create an organized system of evaluation that considers teaching, coaching and residential life? Join this session to see how one school spent a year looking at how boarding schools across the country evaluate faculty. Learn how they have created a school-wide evaluation program that places emphasis on evaluating faculty engagement with all areas of school life. They will also share a document that outlines their system.
Anthony Sgro, Head of School, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, GA
David Landis, Associate Head of School, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, GA
Alan White, Assistant to the Head of School for Special Initiatiives, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, GA
A-2 The Surprising (and Helpful!) Science of Long-Term Memory Creation
Academic Administration
“Why don’t my students REMEMBER what they learned?” teachers often lament. Neuroscientific discoveries of the last ten years help us understand how learning changes brains. This research also offers teachers clear and helpful guidance for improving our teaching. By distinguishing among encoding, consolidation, and retrieval; by understanding the importance of “desirable difficulties”; and by promoting “blank page review”; teachers can align their pedagogy with current science, and thereby help students learn.
Andrew Watson, President, Translate the Brain, MA
A-3 Using Design Thinking Principles in Your School Community: Going From Problem to Challenge
Academic Administration
This session will include an overview of the implementation and mindset of Design Thinking for education administrators. After completing a Design Thinking Certification at UVA/Darden, Design Thinking principles were applied to challenges that faced a growing EHS Washington Program. Come learn more about this trend as an approach to program development and "problem" solving. Session components include: defining Design Thinking for education, a case study from a boarding school community, a "tools" demonstration, and further resources for schools.
Jeremy Goldstein, Director of the Washington Program, Episcopal High School, VA
Helen Woolworth, Associate Director of Admissions, Episcopal High School, VA
A-4 The State of Philanthropy with Boarding School Leadership: Current Characteristics, Trends and Performance Indicators
Mktg/Comm/Dvlpmt/Adv
Always having to stress the importance of Board philanthropic leadership? Curious to know the board’s role in fundraising at other schools? This session shares findings from a 2016 Marts & Lundy research project. We identified and analyzed key characteristics, giving trends, and performance of boards in boarding and day schools. You will leave with data-based information to inform board recruitment and engagement strategies for your particular circumstances.
Rachel Connell, Senior Consultant, Marts & Lundy, NH
Sarah Williams, Senior Consultant and Principal, Leader Analytical Solutions Practice Group, Marts & Lundy, NH
A-5 Choices and Consequences
Residential & Student Life
Traditional discipline and punishment do not change student behavior; they teach obedience, and not respect for values. The Choices and Consequences approach transforms the school community into a positive environment where students buy-in to values that adults are more concerned with, such as, drinking and drug use, bullying and harassment, setting high standards for behavior and for academic achievement. Based on research-supported theories of adolescent behavior, this session will make you rethink how schools should deal with discipline.
Marilyn Shea, Academic Dean, Brewster Academy, NH
Bret Barnett, Dean of Community Life, Brewster Academy, NH
A-6 Unconscious Bias & Aversive Racism Among Well-Intentioned Teachers
Diversity/Multiculturalism
Teachers often make judgments concerning student ability based upon how students’ behave or speak and much of this will be grounded in the students’ culture or ethnicity. In boarding schools, the majority of educators are white and American-born and this lends itself to “cultural disconnects” (Ready & Wright, 2011, p. 337) between teachers and their students—and most specifically, with regard to either the underestimation or overestimation of student abilities. This session will help participants consider practical ways to be culturally responsive within their teaching and learning contexts.
Jennifer Wojcik, Director of Diversity, Chair of the Arts, The Gunnery, CT
A-7 Why Kids Do What They Do, and How Boarding Adults Can Help
Health & Counseling
Functioning "in loco parentis" requires boarding schools to institute external, environmental controls for all facets of student life, but how are adolescent brains and bodies internally wired to respond to the rigors of boarding life? FCD Prevention Works will outline very relevant teen brain research as we discuss how boarding school adults can help nurture protective factors, intervene on risks, and reduce student alcohol and other drug use from the inside out.
Tim Ryan, Director of Regional Operations, FCD Prevention Works, MA
David Sherrell, Senior Prevention Specialist, FCD Prevention Works, MA
A-8 SWOT Analysis for Boarding Schools: Make Data Work for You
Admission, Enrllmnt, & Fin.Aid
Join this session as two experienced and well respected professionals share how you can analyze your school’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats with data-driven information that will help you to make better decisions for success. We’ll explore how strengths—like your school’s brand experience and learning model—can drive your school’s future engagement with an increasingly mobile and web-savvy constituency and boost enrollment for boarding schools. Case studies from your peers will highlight what you need to be thinking about now, and a look at new search trends and tech tools will inspire you to shake up the traditional ways you recruit and retain students.
Jonathan Moser, CEO, Finalsite, CT
Patrick Bassett, President & Senior Consultant, Heads Up Educational Consulting, VA
A-9 Evolving Expectations of School Responses to Student Sexual Assault
Heads & Senior Management
The national media spotlight on student sexual assaults on colleges campuses has had a trickle-down effect at independent schools, as students and parents are looking to independent schools to provide similar options of responses and resources from medical and counseling assistance to disciplinary and criminal pursuit, and academic accommodations. Learn the latest in how schools are responding including new student handbook policies, response procedures, community partnerships, and education of faculty and students.
Linda Johnson, Director, McLane Middleton PA, NH
Maureen Ferris, Director of Risk Management, Phillips Andover, MA
Jennifer Elliott, Dean of Students, Phillips Andover, MA
A-10 Creating a Culture of Engagement: from Acceptance to Alumnus
Heads & Senior Management
Every school has untapped opportunities when it comes to institutional advancement. This presentation will explore strategic initiatives that take advantage of pre-arrival months to build a culture of engagement and involve young alumni in the school community. We will discuss practical implementations of “alumni from day one,” the impact of engaging alumni with current students, and how these ideas can be relevant for diverse groups of students. Come explore how you might be able to leverage your community to build a more comprehensive institutional advancement strategy.
Lance Conrad, Head of School, Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School, MA
John Drew, Assistant Head of School/Academic Dean, Concord Academy, MA
Micajah Dudley, Director of Partnerships, Shearwater, MA
Phillip McAdoo, Director of Equity, Justice and Community, Sidwell Friends School, DC
A-11 Goodnight, Dorm: Examining Sleep Habits and Electronics
Residential & Student Life
Sleep. Adolescents crave it, constantly telling their peers, teachers, and family members that they need more sleep. Sadly, our students tend to make decisions that interfere with good sleep hygiene. This session will share findings gleaned from a sample of 800 boarding students where we examined student sleep and technology habits. Join us for a lively discussion about research-based residential life decisions for better sleep habits!
Lauren Rogers, Dean of Students, Salem Academy, NC
Gregory Guldin, Chemistry Instructor, Woodberry Forest School, VA
Courtney Cronin, College Counselor & French Instructor, Lawrence Academy, MA
A-12 Tools and Processes to Fill Those Beds With Full Pay Students
Admission, Enrllmnt, & Fin.Aid
The Path To Predictable Enrollment! Finding the right students is the goal of any admissions team. Finding full pay students is even more of a challenge. In this session, we will lay out the foundation for assessing admissions personas, improve admissions processes, and look at tools to delight our prospects, all while making the needle move for our incoming classes.
Jesse Roberts, VP, Business Development and Marketing, SchoolAdmin, TX
Ben Douglass, Director of Admission, St. James' School, MD
Daniel Clarke, Founder, School Website, MA
A-13 Communications Audit: Strategies to Help You Define Your Unique Story
Mktg/Comm/Dvlpmt/Adv
Are you using terms like “small class sizes” and “caring faculty” in your admissions materials? Unfortunately, so is everyone else. Communicating your unique story is the key to standing out among your peer schools. Learn actionable strategies to discover and communicate what makes you different. Find out how communicating your authentic best can invigorate your identity, print, video and web presence. You will leave with the tools needed to reassess your own admissions materials and determine if you are truly communicating what makes your school unique.
Lisa Leidy, Agency Principal, Square Spot Design, NH
Hans Mundahl, Founder, Hans Mundahl & Associates Inc., NH
A-14 The Financial Position of Independent Schools: Where Are We Now
Financial Management & Sustainability
In 2011, NBOA began a comprehensive look at the balance sheets of independent schools. Since then, hundreds of school participate in the Financial Position Study each year. However, a core group of 189 schools have participated every year. Explore the key ratios and trends over the past five years from the participating boarding school. Learn the trends from this core group and how they can be used to monitor your school’s financial health and keep your trustees focused on the points that matter.
Jeff Shields, President and CEO, NBOA, DC
Genevieve Madigan , VP, Professional Development and Research , NBOA, DC
A-15 Developing Independent Learners with the STEP Method
Academic Administration
Within a successful learning support center, both the teacher and the student need a collaborative working system to develop independent learners. The STEP Program is a framework tool that is used to develop academic and organization skills while preparing for assessments, developing and writing compositions, building long term projects, and tracking academic growth. This method provides clear roles for teachers and students, fosters independence and confidence, and guides students toward academic success.
William Flynn, Director, Academic Guidance Center, Hebron Academy, ME
Friday, December 2nd
B Sessions 1:15pm – 2:15pm
B-1 Rising Tides, Rising Boats: Creating Consortia to Boost Applications
Admission, Enrllmnt, & Fin.Aid
Learn how competitors have turned to collaboration and teamed up on marketing and admissions initiatives in five-to-10 member consortia similar in nature to the North American Boarding Initiative (NABI). A range of old and new and even “under construction” consortia – some based on geography, others on mission - will detail how teamwork trumps isolationism. Panelists will provide practical strategies on forming a consortium - or simply partnering with peer/competitor schools - to engage in collective marketing and travel.
Don McMillan, President, McMillan Education (& NABI Executive Board), MA
Jill Hutchins, Dean of Enrollment Management, Dublin School, MA (& Fab Five), MA
Peter Curran, Assistant Head of School for Enrollment & Communications, Blair Academy, NJ (& Mid-Atlantic Boarding School Group), NJ