The Daily Demand Dilemma

Independent school leaders often spend their days responding to urgent demands, leaving strategic work untouched. Becky Faulkner offers a practical framework for balancing daily demands with strategy. She encourages leaders to protect strategic time, filter which demands truly need your leadership, and anchor decisions to long-term direction. Faulker suggests small shifts that include a weekly reset, delegation, decision alignment, and reflection.

Additional Research & Resources:

How to Build Human Connection at Work, at Scale
Center for Creative Leadership

What Public School AI Policies Have to Teach Private Schools
Linda Haitani

What Should Leadership Look Like in the Age of Generation Alpha?
Getting Smart

Strengthen School Emergency Operations Plans 

Every school emergency plan needs more than a basic outline. This brief from SchoolSafety.gov breaks down how annexes turn a general crisis plan into a real action guide, detailing the steps and accommodations schools need in place to address specific threats and situations. For any team updating or refining a crisis plan, this document offers practical advice and supporting resources.

Additional Research & Resources:

Advisory Systems
Learner-Centered Collaborative

Future Shock: The Crisis in Career Navigation
FutureEd

Handling Student Personal Relationships With AI
Tech & Learning

From Content to Capacity: Rethinking Education for the Brain Economy

Education's economic payoff isn't just about knowledge, it's about brain health and brain skills working together. Educate AI draws on research from McKinsey & Company to explore how this emerging "brain economy" connects mental well-being directly to learning and long-term success. As AI reshapes what work demands, the ability to navigate ambiguity and think clearly matters more than ever. What does this mean for how schools prepare students?

Additional Research & Resources:

Beyond Screen Time: The Low Tech Learning Matrix

Spencer Education

How Educators Can Practice “Futures Thinking”

EdSurge

Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate 

International Society for Transforming Education

The Enrollment Trust Framework: Why Families Really Choose Your School 

Choosing a school is unlike almost any other decision a family makes. Parents are not selecting a product. They are selecting the adults who will shape their child's days, influence their child's confidence, and stand beside their child during some of the most formative years of life. SchoolGrowth has developed The Enrollment Trust Framework to help schools answer the questions families are asking.

Additional Research & Resources:

How to Organize Your School’s Marketing Materials 

Tassel Marketing

What Does Your Admissions Process Actually Feel Like to Families? 

Mission Minded

You Don't Have a Development Problem. You Have a Strategy Problem

ExploElevate

LEAD AI: Timely Challenge Conference

November 9 | Atlanta, GA

As AI continues to transform how we live, work, and learn, school leaders need more than emerging trends; you need the context, evidence, and practical tools to lead well. LEAD AI brings together researchers, industry leaders, and practitioners for a day of learning, exploration, and collaborative design grounded in original SAIS research and input from teachers and students. In the afternoon, participants will choose a pathway focused on people, process, programs, or culture and work through a structured design sprint to develop solutions relevant to your own school, leaving with concrete next steps rather than simply new ideas.

Upcoming Events

The Thinking Problem: A Science of Learning Solution for AI

September 8, 12:00 PM Eastern

Early Career Heads Discussion Group

Begins September 8, 4:15 PM Eastern

Strengths-Based Leadership Group

Begins September 10, 10:00 AM Eastern

Leadership Discussion Group

Begins September 21, 3:00 PM Eastern

Head of School Discussion Group

Begins September 21, 4:15 PM Eastern

Designing Your School's Experience Strategy for Tomorrow's Families

September 22, 12:00 PM Eastern

Annual Conference
October 4-6, Chattanooga, TN