Virtual Tours, Marketing Audits, Shaping Student Engagement, and Responsible AI Leadership

October 2026

This month’s resources bring together a range of perspectives on the work shaping independent schools today, from how families find and experience a school to how students think, learn, and feel connected. Find ideas on virtual tours, marketing audits, the relationships that shape student engagement, responsible AI leadership, and a six-step bullying response framework.

FEATURED INSIGHT

Voices of Gen Z Study

A new Walton Family Foundation and Gallup study examines the middle and high school years of students born between 1997 and 2012 and finds that relationships drive engagement. Students who build strong bonds with teachers and peers are far more likely to find their schoolwork interesting and meaningful. Yet about 4 in 10 students call their coursework unimportant, and 3 in 10 feel they don’t belong or have no adult who checks in on them. The takeaway is clear: engagement grows not only when lessons show why content matters, but when students know that they matter.

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LEADERSHIP & GOVERNANCE

What Does Leadership in the Age of AI Look Like in Practice?

As AI takes on more analysis and execution, what remains human? World Economic Forum encourages leaders to set clear boundaries, ask whose interests a convincing answer serves, and take responsibility for outcomes. They explore what AI-era leadership looks like in practice, from AI literacy to judgment.

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Additional Research & Resources:

Is Your Board Adding Value or Eroding It?

Greenwich Leadership Partners

Public Funding, Independence, and Intentional Decision-Making

NBOA

Your Leadership Pipeline is Leaking. Here's Why.

The Center for Leadership Studies

COMMUNITY & CONNECTION

A Defensible 6-Step Framework for Responding to Bullying at Schools

When a bullying report arrives, what happens next matters as much as the policy behind it. Dr. Will Durgin from Raptor Technologies lays out six steps for a defensible response, from immediate support and fair investigation to documentation and follow-up. The framework helps schools protect students, apply policy consistently, and confirm what worked.

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Additional Research & Resources:

Are Student Attention Spans Really Shrinking?

Edutopia

Rethinking How Leaders Support Teacher Growth

MiddleWeb

Teaching Digital Well-Being

Center for Digital Thriving

TEACHING & LEARNING

Building Motivation Through Novelty, Challenge, and Choice for Students with ADHD

Students with ADHD often respond to interest-based motivation, not obligation. In this piece, Jeff Horwitz, keynote presenter at the Academic Support and Student Well-Being Conference this February, shows how novelty, challenge, and choice can turn required tasks into engaging learning, with practical strategies teachers can use immediately.

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Additional Research & Resources:

Our Rooms Are Full of Collective Intelligence. We Need Collective Measurement.

Getting Smart

The AI Cheating Crisis in Schools Isn’t (Only) What You Think

Harvard Graduate School of Education

The Future of Education Report

Future Design School

BRAND & COMMUNICATION

What Is a Marketing & Communications Audit (And Does Your School Need One?)

Is your school’s story matching what families experience? Penny Abrahams explains how a Marketing and Communications Audit reveals gaps between what leaders think they communicate and what parents, prospects, donors, and alumni actually hear. Understand the signals that it may be time to take a closer look.

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Additional Research & Resources:

Can a Virtual Tour Actually Drive Enrollment?

Enrollment Catalyst

How to Use AI to Measure Your School’s Online Presence

SchneiderB Media

Should My School Be on LinkedIn?

Thrive Hive

UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES

LEAD AI: Timely Challenge Conference

November 9 | Atlanta, GA

The acceleration of technology, specifically AI, is transforming how we live, work, play, and learn. LEAD AI is a one-day SAIS event equipping leaders with real data, expert context, and design space to move from insight to impact on AI in our schools.

In the morning, learn and explore alongside researchers from Vanderbilt, Harvard, and the Atlanta tech sector. In the afternoon, adapt and design through a collaborative, content-driven sprint to co-create solutions relevant to your school's unique context. Register today to leave with concrete steps, not just new ideas.

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Upcoming Events

Tax-Exempt Status & Nondiscrimination: Navigating the Proposed Rules

October 29, 12:00 PM EDT

2026 Insights: Meridian Data for SAIS Schools

November 3, 12:00 PM EST

Office of Foreign Assets Control: Understanding Schools' Responsibilities

November 10, 12:00 PM EST

Teams That Meet the Moment
November 17, 12:00 PM EST

Fill Your Class: AI-Powered Enrollment & Marketing

Cohort Begins January 5, 1:00 PM EST

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

Designing Your School's Experience Strategy

In an increasingly competitive landscape, academic excellence alone is no longer enough to distinguish one school from another. Families, students, employees, and alumni increasingly make decisions based not only on what a school does, but on what it feels like to be part of it. This SAIS webinar recording features Yellow Car’s experience strategists and experienced school leaders sharing practical admissions, enrollment, marketing, and communications strategy.

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