KeepingTABS

Preparing Your School For More Effective Crisis Response – Two Essential Organizational Prerequisites

Posted on April 10, 2017 by David Wolowitz — No Comments ↓

News reports about sexual misconduct in schools are no longer uncommon. Whether the allegations are about current student – student sexual assault or past teacher – student sexual abuse, no type of school is immune, including independent schools. A claim of sexual misconduct invariably triggers a crisis for the school. The stakes for a school responding to this type of crisis are high. Missteps can result in significant harm to a school’s most valuable asset, its reputation. Damage to a school’s reputation can adversely impact relationships with students, parents, alumni, donors and prospective applicants.

There are, in my opinion, two key organizational elements that are crucial for helping schools weather the storm in such a crisis. First, the board and the administration must have a collaborative working relationship. Second, the school must have established principles to guide board and the administration during the crisis. I will address each of these key elements. Read more ›

Posted in Administration, Boarding schools, Boards, Business Office, Communications, Dispelling Myths, Heads, Independent Schools, Trustees Tagged with: crisis management, sexual abuse

25 Factors Great Boarding Schools Have in Common

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Pat Bassett and Pete Upham — No Comments ↓

Editor’s Note: In June of 2013, Pat Bassett retired as president of NAIS, the National Association of Independent Schools, and now consults with schools. Pete Upham is executive director of TABS, The Association of Boarding Schools.¹ This blog was originally posted in January 2014.

Great boarding schools are “built to last.” Many of the earliest schools founded in the U.S. were boarding schools. Today, more than half of the 280+ college prep boarding schools in North America are more than 100 years old, and 24 boarding schools are more than 200 years old).² Great boarding schools persist over time because they appeal to families seeking an education of deep impact, focused not only on academic training, but also on the formation of good character, habits of lifelong learning, and active citizenship.

What follows are the reflections of two educators whose work in boarding schools and with boarding schools over nearly five decades positions them to observe what boarding schools “built to last” do particularly well.

6 Things Every Boarding School Senior Should Consider When Picking a College

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Courtney Williams — No Comments ↓

Senior year I was sitting in an interdisciplinary class on the history and literature of Great Britain. I was supposed to be paying attention to something about Henry VIII’s sixth wife, but in my lap I held a tattered scrap of paper with a list of 10 colleges on it. I was almost going blind staring again at the biggest decision of my life, sweating, no longer able to hear, flashes of fate, glory and doom assailing me with every short breath, until my best friend slammed her hand on my desk and said, Put that away!

I loved boarding school, even the parts other people didn’t love so much, and was extremely successful academically and well rounded in my extra-curriculars. For some reason when it came to picking a college, I lost my usual confidence and the spirit of adventure that took me head first into everything. Here are 6 things that would have helped my young angst-ridden self as I reached for my sixth side dish of crinkle cheese fries later on hamburger day. Read more ›

Posted in Boarding schools, College Admissions, College Advising, Counseling, Dispelling Myths, Student Culture, Student Life, Students

Let’s Celebrate the Work of Our Admission Office

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Leo Marshall — No Comments ↓

It’s that time of year. March 10, the common notification date for delivering admission decisions. The admission committee has done its work and financial aid decisions are on the table. The entire admission office, director, associates, staff are reflecting on the end of another admission season with a sense of relief mixed with a bit of angst at the possibility that, in spite of their sometime agonized decisions, they still have to wait to see if they will fully enroll the school for another year. And it’s a time when others on the campus ought to be walking into the admission office to celebrate their work – board members, head of school, administrators, faculty, staff – for it’s this admission office whose work will ensure the future of the school and salaries for its employees. The students they bring to the school are the future the school will mold for all of us.

Posted in Admissions

Above all, Mission. Observations from the 2016 TABS Conference

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Courtney Williams — No Comments ↓

I think of David Lee Roth, Boy George and Madonna, and how defiantly outrageous the 1980s seemed when I went to boarding school, like we couldn’t push it any further. But the kinds of changes we are seeing these days are changes in the very structure of things. New situations are arising for which there is no rulebook. How do schools respond? At TABS Annual Conference this year, I was privileged to watch a large group of diverse institutions come together to share concerns and victories. The most powerful tool I noticed, that underlined schools’ approaches to radical change – from redefining inclusion to resolving a threat of terrorism – was the use of foundational principles and mission. Read more ›

Posted in Boarding schools, Dispelling Myths, Diversity, Independent Schools, Professional Development, Student Culture, Student Life, TABS, TABS Programs

Courage: a boarding school graduate reflects on life skills

Posted on February 6, 2017 by TABS — No Comments ↓

Young girl walking in balance on the rope

By Eliza Stroh

The day my mom dropped me off at boarding school was memorable, if only for its lack of drama. In the weeks leading up to the day when I would leave home and move into the dorm, I imagined the long, tearful goodbye my mother and I would exchange before she left me to fend in my new world. I pictured her hugging me too many times as I stoically assured her that Parents’ Weekend was only a few weeks away — I would see her soon.

So when the last of the boxes were unpacked, I was alarmed by the squeals of her car tires as she sped away without so much as a tear shed. And that was that. There I was alone. And completely exhilarated.

You Say Place. I Say Person. Sorting information in the classroom and guidance office.

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Courtney Williams — No Comments ↓

“I’m so glad to be home in Sausalito. Did you talk with the woman who lives in Brooklyn and teaches in Paris and Morocco, when we were in SoHo last night?”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about. How are you feeling? I know you had a long day. Hey, was she the one who looked so distracted, then ask me if I was feeling confident about my presentation?”

“I have no idea.”

That’s an example of my parents referencing a woman they both met at the same cocktail party. My Mom thinks primarily in terms of places and my Dad thinks in terms of people.

Most educators are familiar with the concept that students have different learning styles, absorbing and retaining knowledge best through one primary channel – for example, visual, auditory or kinesthetic. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), the discipline that pioneered these kinds of distinctions, offers another category of knowledge parsing, called Sorting, that can provide educators a new layer through which to impart knowledge – and to decode how much knowledge has been absorbed! I spoke with Lynne Conwell, an early developer of NLP, to learn how Sorting functions and how it might be useful in the classroom or the guidance office.

Kindness is Difficult.

Posted on January 20, 2017 by TABS — No Comments ↓

By Brad Bates, Head of School, Dublin School. Originally posted on 2 Brads Blog.

The recent presidential election brought about an unprecedented level of vitriol, hate and anger in our country. As a history teacher I had to go back to the election of 1800 between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams to find such a divisive campaign. As an educator I am deeply disturbed by the number of stories coming from college and high school campuses that talk about students being threatened based on their race, gender identity, religion, sexuality and beliefs. Now more than ever schools like Dublin must engage in intense conversation and encourage active listening.

This past Monday during a day of professional development I asked our faculty to talk about how we teach our students how to be kind and thoughtful citizens. I asked them what kindness looks like, what behaviors and habits of mind we want to see in our students, and what methods we can use to develop these behaviors and habits. The conversation was dynamic and insightful and once again I was impressed with the depth of thinking of the adults in our community.

This is hard! Stereotype Threat Part 2

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Courtney Williams — No Comments ↓

In a previous TABS blog, Stereotype Threat & the Unique Advantage of Community, I discussed an in-depth conversation I had with Andrew Watson of TranslateTheBrain, about Stereotype Threat and the problems it causes for Working Memory. One of the primary strategies to diffuse Stereotype Threat or null its consequences, is to Normalize Struggle. But it’s not a crazy thing to wonder, does telling students that something is hard, make it harder? Read more ›

Posted in Academics, Counseling, Dispelling Myths, Diversity, Students, Students of Color, Teaching & Learning

After the Election: Thoughts from a Head of School

Posted on November 23, 2016 by TABS — No Comments ↓

Solebury Head of School Tom Wilschutz shared the following thoughts at a student assembly on November 9, 2016.

Good afternoon,

I want to spend a few minutes and offer some context and perspective around this moment in our nation’s history. Some of you assembled here awoke with fear of the consequences of a Trump Presidency. Some of you assembled here today would have feared a Clinton Presidency. Some of you assembled here today don’t know how to process what is happening in our country.

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