The people responsible for the facilities at a school sometimes lack a voice in helping overcome the barriers to excellence, so we took the time to interview a gentleman with many years of experience supporting the needs of educators. Having worked in both public and private education, he shared some valuable wisdom in the question and answer format below.

Leading a school is extraordinarily stressful without a cohesive team that has clarity, communicates expertly, and consistently executes day-to-day.

Motivated by the joys of working with such a productive team, schools have asked us to help them gain advantage through a leadership retreat--one that is designed to increase leadership capacity, organizational health, and continuous improvement.

Do you have a strategic plan or school improvement plan? Have you prioritized the ONE THING that has the biggest impact on student growth and overall school growth?

The future of American education is will very likely involve a return to its roots: A diverse or plural school system. Did you know that the United States had pluralistic school systems in its first 100 years? 

If you are an education leader, teacher, school board member, legislator, parent, or care at all about schools, I've recently discovered a book that you MUST read. It's Dr. Ashley Berner's book: No One Way to School: Pluralism and American Public Education. Dr. Berner is Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and is an historian by training.

In 2015-16 School Growth has delivered training and services to 809 school in 15 countries--and that impact continues to grow. They span the full spectrum of K-12 programs: private, public, charter, not-for-profit, for-profit, special needs, old, new, urban, rural, and so on.

Schools that learn have a competitive advantage.

What evidence would you look for in a school where the leader says:
"Our people are our greatest asset."

A few months ago we received a call from one of the best human resources directors in education because she was searching for a professional development program on managing difficult people and conversations. Her school had gone through some challenging situations that required courageous leadership to successfully navigate through the danger zones. She knew that with the right training and skills, the administrative team would be better prepared to make the best decisions to guide the organization forward.

How important is loyalty among your faculty and families? Critical, right? Then it just makes sense to invest the time and resources to deepen and strengthen those relationships.

One of the best at building loyalty with clients was Harvey McKay, author of the book, How to Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. He developed a precise system for collecting information that helped him truly know his clients at a deeper level, and he used this data to engage them in meaningful conversation, to acknowledge special events and milestones, and to express genuine care.

The summer of 2015 will be remembered for many reasons:

Yesterday we had the privilege of guiding some schools through our unique process of designing their future. Here are a few insights from the School Growth Lab this week.

Dr. Albert Niemi, chair of the business school at SMU, recently shared his annual report and predictions. I have attended his presentation for the last eight years and have found him to be more accurate than not. His U.S. economic reflections and forecasts for 2015 included some important insights that should influence your plans regarding enrollment and fundraising.