Signature Experiences

We invite you to take part in NAIS Thrive in a fresh and exciting way. Our Signature Experiences are focused explorations of urgent themes:

• Handling high-conflict situations with authenticity and grace

• Mid-level leadership: Connecting with what matters in your roles and with others who share your multi-layered responsibilities in schools

• Developing a human-centered and generative artificial intelligence (AI) strategy for your school

Each experience is capped at 150 attendees and includes an exclusive Master Class keynote from industry experts, deep discussions with an engaged cohort, and actionable takeaways on your chosen theme. 

Each of the three experiences has programming on both Thursday and Friday, and you still have access to the conference’s keynote speakers, workshops, and networking.

Cost (pre-registration required): Early-bird rates are $195 for members and $265 for non-members; Standard rates are $245 for members and $315 for non-members.

Signature Experience Schedule

• 8:00–9:00 AM: Signature Experience Day 1 Breakfast
• 11:15 AM–1:30 PM: Signature Experience Day 1 Session (Lunch is included.)

• 11:15 AM–1:30 PM: Signature Experience Day 2 Session (Lunch is included.)

Signature Experience Topics

Signature Experience 1: Traversing the Landscape of High-Conflict Situations

Many conflict-management perspectives describe conflict as a natural and necessary part of the human condition. Based on the different information we receive and the experiences we have, we all hold varied viewpoints. While these distinct outlooks often contribute positively to nuance, innovation, creativity, progress, etc., some can lead to conflict and potential impasse—particularly when intense emotions are involved. In many of these situations, we exhibit or witness behaviors characteristic of high conflict. Join us to build an understanding of the impact of conflict and develop tools to engage and handle such situations.

From basic differences of opinion to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB)-related topics and concerns to global challenges that impact us all, such situations have increasingly arisen on our campuses. Learn about multicultural skills and tools to assist your understanding and how to apply them to various situations. Take this opportunity to practice useful skills that build on each other. Bring a situation you want to address so you can apply these newly acquired skills to your specific challenge on your own as you engage with the material or in the process with others. Leave the workshop not only with a greater understanding of the complexity of facing conflict but also a skill set to enhance your ability to address and manage such situations—and facilitate resolution.

Presenters:

Jessie Justin is a certified personal coach, equity coach and consultant, educator, and parent based in Providence. Through life experience and educational pursuits, they have learned to weave social justice consciousness into everyday life. Justin brings a keen awareness of the intersectional identities that affect who we are and how we respond to our surroundings. As a gender-nonbinary, queer, white person, they are dedicated to helping communities recognize and challenge systemic oppression and racial injustice. Justin is a founding member of the White Noise Collective RI and a member of the Providence chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice. They have been involved in and influenced by VISIONS, Inc. for over 10 years and now serve as a consultant for them. Justin earned a B.A. from Skidmore College and an M.A. in psychology from Antioch University.

Rick Pinderhughes currently serves as the deputy vice president of consulting at VISIONS, Inc., an anti-oppression training and consulting organization based in Dorchester, Massachusetts. VISIONS supports organizations, institutions, and community groups in their journeys toward becoming more effective. Besides his administrative duties, Pinderhughes applies his clinical experience to training, group facilitation, coaching, and technical assistance in educational, nonprofit, faith-based, corporate, and health-care settings, consulting on a wide range of institutional and organizational change issues from a multicultural perspective. He supervised the VISIONS’ Legacy Project, a summer program for youth in Boston, New Orleans, and Fresno, California, from its inception in 2008 through 2018. Pinderhughes resumed a supervisory role in the project in 2022. With a significant training and practice background in adoption issues, particularly transracial and international adoption, he has practiced individual, group, and family therapy for over 30 years in a variety of settings in the greater Boston area. Pinderhughes has served as an adjunct faculty member at Boston College School of Social Work since 2015. He earned his doctoral degree from William James College (formerly Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology).
 

Signature Experience 2: Mid-Level Leadership: Sustainable Strategies for Observation, Feedback, and Supporting Professional Growth

On Thursday, Brenda Cram leads a session on hiring, training, developing, and retaining staff and faculty. Hiring is a tricky and exciting endeavor. Who do you involve in the process? What skills and dispositions do you seek? What system do you follow—from writing the job description to signing the contract? Examine hiring systems and plant the seeds for streamlining your hiring process.

Training means helping new staff understand the values, culture, and vision of your school. It sets a tone for how faculty and staff see themselves in your context. It may be the moment you capture each person’s strengths and make them feel part of the team. Generate thoughtful ways to craft this entry point and clarify your school’s individuality.

Developing talented faculty and staff is the bread and butter of mid-level leadership. These components form the core for developing your teams: 

• trust building,

• healthy conflict guardrails and engagement,

• commitment to shared work,

• accountability—both modeled and expected, and

• working toward a shared goal.

Explore equitable methods of developing your faculty and staff. Also address the elephant in the room: At what point is it time for someone to acquire knowledge and opportunity they cannot gain from the experiences your school can provide? Retaining faculty members is a shared responsibility and a desire for the health of the school. Review what research shows are the core indicators of job satisfaction in schools and address ways to increase that satisfaction.

On Friday, Joshua Wolf leads a session on leveraging observation and feedback in sustainable ways. All division heads, department chairs, and deans of faculty want to observe their teachers regularly and give feedback that promotes professional growth, but three obstacles stand in our way: 

1. finding the time to see every teacher, 

2. knowing how to take observational notes that will help, and 

3. eventually sharing these notes with teachers in ways that inspire them to reflect on their practice and ultimately become stronger educators.

Join us to address all three of the above issues, focusing primarily on the “15-minute drop-in” and using customized observation grids to share meaningful feedback with your faculty. Then talk about the needs of new faculty. Our beginners and second-year teachers need guidance, affirmation, and constructive feedback. Focus on two specific ways to deliver this:

1. by collecting and sharing “short” data, and

2. giving feedback using aspirational criteria. 

Walk away from this experience with several concrete ideas for supporting all your faculty.

Presenters:

Brenda Cram joined the NAIS Leadership and Governance team in August of 2024 with over 30 years of experience in NAIS schools, including roles as teacher, coach, division head, assistant head, and associate head. Also an integral leader in the Northwest Association of Independent Schools, she served as both a faculty member and leadership coach of the Emerging Leaders program, a cohort-based program designed to develop independent school leaders and support those poised and interested in taking the next step in their careers. As a certified and independent leadership coach for the last six years, Cram has worked with a wide range of mid-level independent school leaders, coaching them to develop skills and knowledge in core areas of school and organizational leadership. She has also been both a board member (at three independent schools) and an adjunct professor at UCDS Graduate School of Education. Cram is an avid runner and bicyclist. She believes her superpower is helping to heal school cultures in tumult.

Joshua Wolf has been an educator at The Park School of Baltimore (MD) for 30 years. He has taught Spanish, served as the Modern Language Department chair, coached boys varsity basketball, and since 2011, served as the middle school principal. Wolf received his undergraduate degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Columbia University, where he focused on teachers’ receptivity to feedback. When away from school, he bikes, hikes, journals, makes short films, and enjoys time with family.
 

Signature Experience 3: AI: Four Priorities for Human-Centered AI in Schools

Explore what schools need to prioritize in developing a sustainable, human-centered, generative artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. Using examples from schools and the world beyond, look at how far the technology has come since ChatGPT’s debut in November 2022, and reflect on the long-term implications AI might have on the work of schools. Learn the latest updates and research, discuss the potential impact on your school, and take on a design challenge, all organized around these four priorities:

• Augmentation over Automation: Use a menu of generative AI tools to explore how AI can help you be more efficient, effective, and innovative. 

• Literacy over Policy: Assess your AI skills against the core competencies of critical AI literacy.

• Design over Technology: Reimagine a key student assessment or adult learning experience in a way that is responsive to generative AI.

• Vision over Decisions: Use your learning to create or update a vision statement for generative AI at your school. 

Presenter: 

Eric Hudson is a facilitator and strategic advisor who supports schools in making sense of what’s changing in education. He specializes in learner-centered assessment, human-centered leadership, and strategic program design. Hudson has designed and facilitated professional learning for hundreds of schools and learning organizations. Most recently, he spent a decade at Global Online Academy (GOA), first as an instructional coach and ultimately as chief program officer, working with schools around the world to rethink where, when, and how learning happens. Prior to GOA Hudson taught at the middle school, high school, and college levels. The classroom is where he developed his passion for designing learning experiences. Hudson currently serves on the board of the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS). His Substack newsletter “Learning on Purpose” has been featured in The Marshall Memo and The Educator’s Notebook. Hudson holds an M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.A. from Cornell University. He lives on Cape Cod.