Join fellow participants in these affinity-based, three-hour workshops. Take the unique opportunity to connect with other educators who share your experiences and glean insights from expert facilitators. You’ll walk away feeling seen, heard, and equipped with the tools and skills that will help you lead with your whole self. Identity-based workshops are intended to be affinity spaces for people who share a particular identity. You know you are in the right session if you can say unequivocally, “I am “ ________” and speak to that group’s collective identity and experience from the “I” perspective.
Presenters: Olaf Jorgenson, Almaden Country Day School (CA); Brooke Carroll, Acies Strategies; Amada Torres, NAIS
Small and under-resourced schools make up a critical mass of NAIS membership and many of them are vulnerable to market forces and other external circumstances. To resist these threats and position these schools to prevail requires a shift in leadership strategy beginning with changing mindsets in the school community. Join us to learn the mindset shifts essential for small and under-resourced schools to thrive, centered on three topics critical to every school’s sustainability: governance, enrollment, and financial planning.
Presenters: Blake Kohn and Sante Mastriana; Close Up Foundation
In a world dominated by polarization and politicization of national and international issues, schools must engage in civil discourse when challenging conversations arise. Join us to get a road map for strategically planning a thoughtful, values-based approach to navigating political and social issues. Identify steps to take when creating a culture of civil discourse on your campus and examine various case studies to envision responses to potential challenges. Consider what it takes to execute a strategic vision for civil discourse and support open, inclusive climates for student and community engagement.
Presenter: Deborah Roffman, The Park School of Baltimore (MD)
As issues connected to sexual and gender diversity become increasingly politicized and disinformation spreads, pushback, hostility, and even direct attacks against public and independent schools, as well as individual staff members, have escalated, sometimes in ugly, disruptive ways. Reassuringly, how this pushback plays out within school communities —whether relatively low-key or highly disruptive—is most often predictable and can be managed successfully. Join us to explore the complex dynamics embedded within these conflicts and acquire numerous proactive and responsive strategies for strengthening related programs and protecting students, teachers, parents, administrators, and the institution itself.
Presenters: Carrie Grimes and Michael Neel, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Join this deliberation workshop that brings together practical problem-solving approaches with promising practices in data-informed decision-making to support school leaders in actual dilemmas they currently face. Identify a decision you want to work through and explore that situation through three targeted rounds of analysis and reflection in collaboration with others. Fully engaging in this deliberation workshop can yield a fitting response to the challenge/decision and foster organizational learning that promotes greater effectiveness and ethical action over time.
Presenters: Anastassia Radeva, Ryan Grady, Sheryl Cohen, and Patricia Kong, Pilgrim School (CA)
When we face a challenge in our school, we know the stakes can feel—and often are—high. Join us to focus on how to use human-centered design to make decisions and drive change at your school. You can use design thinking to build a new growth and evaluation framework, identify equitable workloads, and redefine the department chair role. Get key takeaways, tools, and strategies you can use right away. Come to build a deeper understanding of how to use this approach to ensure that data and human-centered solutions are at the core of your organizational design work.
Presenters: Leilani Ahina-Dawson, Pat Tom, and Danielle Malone, Iolani School (HI)
Join this highly interactive workshop to better prepare to respond to a crisis at your school. Grounded in research and theory that informs best practices for schools, complete 10 hands-on interactive tasks to enhance your readiness. Engage in audience polls, group discussions, hypothetical case analysis, and role-plays. Using a workbook to record your learning and guide future work, leave significantly better prepared to guide your school through future critical incidents and crises. School teams involved in crisis response leadership are encouraged to attend together, though we also welcome individual school representatives.
Presenters: Ali Michael, Race Institute for K-12 Educators; Toni Graves Williamson, Friends Select School (PA)
In 2024, we witnessed unprecedented attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs across the country and in many of our schools. While the attacks focused on outdated caricatures of an imagined DEI monster, the impact on actual diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, belonging, and community was adverse. Join us to gain strategies for envisioning DEI programs that answer many of the questions those attacks raised. Together let’s reimagine what diversity, equity, and inclusion could look like in our diverse, multiracial society and schools, as we work to meet this moment in 2025.
Presenters: Andrew Watson, Translate the Brain; Justin Cerenzia, Episcopal Academy (PA)
Teachers and academic leaders often hear that we must align our schools with the very latest research: from growth mindset to retrieval practice, from mindful meditation to “handshakes at the door.” Join this practical, hands-on workshop to evaluate those claims openly, thoroughly, and wisely so we can ultimately accept beneficial advice while rejecting marginal, exaggerated, or misrepresented claims. Examine multiple case studies and interactive examples to assess the credibility of the person offering the “research-based” advice and the usefulness of the research itself. Explore current online resources to evaluate multiple perspectives on vital teaching practices.
Presenters: Anne Rubin, The Blake School (MN); Kim Scott, Radical Candor; Nadia Johnson, Nadia Johnson Consulting
Cultivating an environment where community members can thrive through collaboration while honoring their individuality is important not only for students in independent schools but also for employees. To do this we must create cultures where we value collegiality over congeniality. Best-selling author Kim Scott has partnered with two seasoned independent school leaders to explore what it means to apply practices of radical candor in independent school settings.
Presenters: Christian Talbot and Amber Berry, Middle States Association
No school chose to adopt generative artificial intelligence (AI), yet it still arrived in every learning environment. Without clear policies on the use of AI, we run the risk of confusion, misuse, and ethical lapses. Middle States Association’s AI Policy Lab equips school leaders with the knowledge and tools to develop AI policies that not only align with but also amplify and support your institution's mission, vision, and values. Join us to learn from a case study of a peer school, workshop sample AI policies, and craft an action plan. Leave feeling ready to “stay safe and stay ahead.”
Presenter: Denise Clark Pope, Challenge Success and Stanford Graduate School of Education
Henry David Thoreau said, "It is not enough to be busy. … The question is: What are we busy about?" How we spend time reflects our values—and how time is allocated during the school day impacts the work and well-being of all school community members. Join this hands-on workshop as we consider how to use time at school as a powerful lever for school change. Share research around student and faculty/staff well-being and explore concrete examples from schools that have reclaimed time for more effective learning and work experiences. Leave with ideas to share and pilot.
Presenters: Julia Griffin, Hawken School (OH); Regan Galvan, Vistamar School (CA); Mike Peller, Hillbrook School (CA); Derek Kanarek, Catlin Gabel School (OR); Jason Cummings, Global Online Academy
Are your teachers complaining that your students can’t (won’t?) do challenging work? Are parents complaining about any grade below an A-? Are you an educational leader passionate about fostering student agency? Do you seek a team to support your change management initiatives needed to help students develop skills for the future? Competency-based learning (CBL) provides schools with a clear system that supports purposeful learning grounded in relevance, agency, and transferability. However, shifting from the current factory-model educational system requires strategy and persistence. Join our session to build communal efficacy and cultural stamina for embracing a systemic mastery (r)evolution.