Board Governance - The Key To School Success

Hello Inner Circle Member,

Welcome to our 33 new members to HEG Inner Circle eNewsletter.

If you are in Vancouver Canada right now, you will be basking in our clear blue skies and fantastic ski conditions at our local mountains. Yesterday my father in-law flew me over on his Cessna to Victoria for a meeting at Dunsmuir Lodge. This facility overlooks the Strait of Georgia with views all the way west to our snow covered coastal mountains, the Gulf Islands, and the Olympic Mountain Range in Washington.

Most importantly however is that we are basking in our Vancouver Canucks hockey team and their continued winning streak. If the playoffs start today, we would be in fifth place and taking on the Chicago Blackhawks. Special note: Vancouver not won the Stanley Cup in our 34 year history!

Our firm has been busy with new clients in the UAE, Vietnam, Korea, Saudi Arabia, and India. We thank all our happy clients and their trust in our services. Our projects span the development of new International K-12 International Baccalaureate Schools to pre-evaluation of public schools as part of a pre-reform exercise.

Here is the quote of the day.

The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.

- Charles Kettering

Today I am going to talk about effective board governance. Research shows that effective schools have effective board leadership. Is your board leading or managing the school? The best way to maximize board effectiveness is to ensure that they fully understand it's governance responsibilities and parameters of its leadership role.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

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In This Issue

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1. In The News

2. Focused Boards the Key to School Success

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1. In The News

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TWO LOCAL PRIVATE SCHOOLS MAY CONSIDER A MERGER

... there have been no formal talks about merging. The schools decided to send the letters home to put some rumours to rest and reassure parents and students.

ENROLLMENT TUMBLES AT Cape Coral SCHOOLS

The school plans to once again offer classes for sixth-grade students for the 2009-10 school year. The loss of students has been painful for private schools...

ENROLLMENT AS ISSUE FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS? NO HERE, NOT YET

Area private school enrolments aren't feeling the sting of the slumping economy...

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2. Focused Boards the Key to School Success

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Your can not live with them, you cannot live without them. This is the feeling of many people who sit on boards or work with or for them. However, it does not have to always be that way; at least not if they are functioning properly.

As organizational leaders, trustees not only focus on compliance, legal requirements, hiring and firing the CEO, and fundraising, but also stewardship. This means ensuring that an effective strategic plan is developed, implemented, monitored, and operationalized with the administration of board committees. On top of this, boards need to set performance standards, measure efficacy, and build and develop the board itself.

Here are seven pillars to effective governance.

1). Understand Your Mission or Purpose:

A firm understanding of the school’s mission will aid trustees in helping to oversee policies, programs, and priorities that meet the school’s purpose.

2). Understand Your Values and Beliefs:

This guides how you behave towards your staff, students, parents, and community. This governs how you interact with the rest of your school and provides the means by which the mission is accomplished and how you serve your community. The board is charged with the execution of the mission is in keeping with the values.

3). Knowing What Success Is:

You must understand what represents success for your school and what the mission and values lead to by way of success. To realize the mission, how will the board go about this? The most effective approach is through a strategic plan.

4). Identify Your Priorities:

Your priorities are governed by your mission and describe what your school does. You need to clearly define these or you will have no focus and will cause burn out. Knowing your priorities will determine your school’s actions. These are conveyed through your plan’s goals and objectives.

5). Execute Your Strategies

Your school’s strategies refer to your strategic plan and are based on your mission and values. Your strategies (which are really your goals) inform your board, staff, and community how their interconnected activities combine to make the school successful. These will allow your board to confront difficult issues and make proactive choices. Good boards will oversee implementation stay aligned with their strategies.

6). Measure CEO Performance:

The board’s mandate is to evaluate the CEO’s effectiveness in carrying out the mission and priorities of the strategic plan. Board leadership requires an effective relationship with the CEO. This is accomplished through regular performance reviews based on the priorities of the plan and the degree to which the CEO carries them out.

7). Develop Leaders:

The board’s role is to cultivate and develop its trustees and CEO’s as effective leaders. Your school depends on a commitment to growth who serves your community. Ensuring that your board and CEO receive learning opportunities is key. Board leadership requires that governors understand their roles and keep focused on effective governance as the means to the end.

Achieving the mission.

To find out more about our firm’s board governance services and how we can help improve your board’s effectiveness, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs or click on the following link for more information:

Click here: http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/online_assessments.php

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To your success,

Douglas Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

Email: info@halladayeducationgroup.com

www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

Private School Business Plan

Hello Inner Circle Member:

I do not know about you, but I am just coming down from this weeks inauguration activities. As a Canadian I am looking forward to the new President and his vision for the future. If you know Canadians, that is about as political as we get.

Please do not ask about our Vancouver Canuck hockey team though. They are setting a new standard for apathy. They have now lost 7 games in a row and set a record for consecutive home game losses. Thankfully the All Start Break is here, so we do not have to expose ourselves to anymore of their hockey for a week.

Though the following quote was written many years ago, it has many links to the inaugural speech of Mr. Obama from Tuesday and his reference to what is required of us now in a new era of responsibility.

Here is the quote of the day.

Nothing of great value in life comes easily. The things of highest value sometimes come hard. The gold that has the greatest value lies deepest in the earth, as do the diamonds.

Norman Vincent Peale
1898-1993, Pastor, Speaker and Author

I received an email last week from an Inner Circle member, Marianne, who asked what needs to be considered when developing a business plan for a new school. Today, Bill Wan, an HEG Executive Associate, and an author of +25 business plans for new schools, will provide input into what you need to consider.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President and Founder
Halladay Education Group Inc.
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

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In This Issue
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1. In The News

2. Developing a Business Plan for a New School

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1. In The News
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ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN TO CLOSE MORE SCHOOLS
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn is planning to close about fourteen more schools. This is in addition to the twenty-two schools shut in 2005 and seven more since then....


ECONOMY HITTING PRIVATE SCHOOLS HARD
Lost jobs mean parents can't afford tuition just as big donors pull back because of their stock market losses. While public schools brace for bad news from state politicians because of the budget deficit, private schools already have gotten word from their own chief funders -- the parents of their students...

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2. Developing a Business Plan for a New School
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Hi Marianne,

Thank you for taking the time to contact our firm. Included below are some pointers that may be meaningless to a non accounting person. However, if you have some accounting training, your can contact our Executive Associate, Bill Wan directly to get some pointers or clarification.

It is hard to give out information on such a complicated subject, but here are some pointers to develop a business plan for a private school provided by Bill Wan.

1. Brain storm and list all the set up costs for starting a school. Once you add up all the costs, the sum will be the amount you need to start the school. Set up costs will include building renovation costs if the building is already there, but may need modification to bring it up to code requirements. If the land has to be purchased and building has to be constructed, then such costs should be included. Other set up costs include marketing, consulting services, instructional resources needed to teach the programs, temporary rent for an admission office, etc.
2. Then you should prepare an initial budget for the school for the first year of operation. To do this you need to estimate the number of students for each grade level the school will have in its first year. Once you have the number of students projected for the first year, you can then estimate the number of teachers you will need. With the projected student information, you can calculate how much tuition fees you can generate by multiplying the prevailing tuition fees charged by other competing schools in your regions to the number of students you estimated in each grade level. You can also calculate how much payroll you need to pay teachers (and benefits) by multiplying the average annual teacher salaries in your city to the number of teachers you need.
3. Then you need to calculate the classroom and instructional supplies you need for the school year by using a standard average costs for such programs. Depending on the programs being taught in the school, you may use something like $200 per student to estimate such expenses.
4. After calculating the budget for tuition fees and payroll, you have to calculate other overhead costs. If you are purchasing your own land and building, then you have to calculate the mortgage payments for the land and construction costs for the building you need. If you are renting, then you just have to include the rent. You also have to estimate ancillary expenses such as the costs of operating a few school buses for student pick up, field trips etc. Other costs such as financing charges for the loans need to pay for the set up costs. Repair and maintenance, janitorial, fundraising expenses and other costs have to be included. Also, expenses such as professional development for teaching staff, travel costs for team competition and other special costs have to be addressed as well.
5. Once you have done the first year budget, then you can do the same for the second year and third year etc. You have to adjust the budget for each subsequent year as it will change due to the increase in the number of students. That is if the school starts with Grade 1 to 7 in year one. It will have to add one Grade 8 in year two with x number of students. So you have to adjust the number of teachers and per student costs for instructional supplies etc. I would recommend you do at least a 5-year cash flow projection for the school. You should bear in mind that as the school grows and number of student increases, the rent or mortgage payment has to increase to accommodate the number of students if the existing physical plant reaches its capacity. That normally happens for most new school within the first three years. So that would mean more fundraising and more loans needed to increase the physical plant. This also means more rent and mortgage payments in later years that you hopefully can offset by the increase in tuition fees due to increase in enrolment.
6. You also have to include the financing charges in each year and bearing in mind that the cash will be needed to pay loan payment and interest charges for each year. Some loans may have interest rate increases over the years so that has to be addressed to in your projection. There are other costs and factors to consider and it depending on the type of programs being introduced at the new school.
   

To find out more about our firm’s services and how we can help, you can click on and download a PDF of our firm’s detailed School Formation Services, staff bio’s, and recent school formation projects. Click here.

If you would like more information on how we can help you develop a private school business plan for a new school, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to set up a time to chat about your needs.

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To your success,

Douglas Halladay
President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

P: 604.868.0002 / F: 868.472.8737 / Email: info@halladayeducationgroup.com
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

P.S. Do not forget to check out our secure Online Store for ways to invest in improving or starting your own school or non-profit. Click on this link:

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School Strategic Plan - Critical Tool

Hi,

I am sad to report that since my last blog a week ago, the Vancouver Canuck's hockey team has not won a single game (4 losses in a row!). Even with their new superstar, Mats Sundin, they are back to their usual ways. Sigh.

However, to alleviate the stress I attended my first yoga class ever last night. I hope it helps.

Today I want talk about what kind of tool your new or established school needs to proactively deal with our new economic climate. You cannot go a day without reading another news article or hearing a reporter talk about the impact the economy is having on every element of our society, including schools. Are you sitting back and hoping for the best or are you putting a plan together to take advantage of your opportunities (yes, opportunities)? I hope that you’re in the latter group.

If you read over some of the news articles I am including, you will note that the situation is global. But what are you doing to prepare your school? Is it a ready-shoot-aim approach?

Here are a few quotes to get your engine revved:

“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.”

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Do you have a plan? Read on to find our more about how you can.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

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In This Issue

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1. In The News

2. Critical Tool

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1. In The News

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Private schools suffering in slow economy
WPTV - West Palm Beach, FL, USA
WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- The tough economy may be having an effect on private school enrollment. An organization that tracks private school tuition in New...

Montreal private school must pay $5 million for alleged sex assaults
CBC.ca - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MONTREAL - A prestigious Montreal private school must pay $5 million in damages to former students who alleged they were sexually assaulted by teachers...

Despite recession, private schools hold their own
Baltimore Examiner - Baltimore, MD, USA
Parents who dole out tuition costs to send their children to private schools are facing the same economic crisis and rising costs as...

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2. Critical Tool

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As the world’s economy shifts, powerful forces are impacting your new or established school.

Now more than ever your board needs a comprehensive strategic plan to maximize your strengths, foresee threats, reduce weaknesses, and take advantage of future opportunities. As others retrench and react to current events, proactive schools develop a plan that builds a foundation to make them even stronger. Your plan can steer you through these turbulent times.

Our proven strategic planning process results in the development of a practical tool to lead your school over the next five years. I’ve taken the liberty of including recent testimonial letters from other private school leaders like you reflecting on our planning process. Click here to access the letter.

Our comprehensive approach normally encompasses three site visits over a five to eight month period to determine where you are now, where you want to be, how to get there, and how you know you’ve gotten there, providing:

• Onsite focus group sessions with parents, students, staff, faculty, board members, alumni, and/or other members of your community to identify areas of priority;
• Five separate statistically-driven online surveys with your staff/faculty, board, parents, and/or alumni to gather data on your school’s performance;
• Facilitated On-Site Retreats with your planning committee to re/define core values, mission and vision statements, and educational philosophy;
• Identifying impeding critical issues and developing solution-based goals, rationale, and objectives;
• Support to apply your plan in your governance model and operationalize it with your Administration;
• Community surveys to gather feedback on drafts of the strategic plan;
• And most importantly, detailed action plans to implement your goals and make your vision a reality.

Our experienced approach results in both the compass and the roadmap to guide your staff and board in using a measurable plan to focus priorities and maximize school performance.

If this is something you feel that your school could benefit from and you’d like to find out more about our process, you will want review the attached “Overview Document” that outlines our planning approach. Of course, we can also work with you on your existing strategic plan to help you use it in your governance model and annual operational plan. Click here to see our process.

As a past Head of School I understand how invaluable a strategic plan is to the long-term success of an institution. At the time of this blog there may still be time to develop a strategic plan this spring or begin preparation to develop the plan for the coming school year. Alan, if you would like to touch base with me about our services, you can contact me by phone at 604.868.0002 or email info@HalladayEducationGroup.com.

If you would like more information on how we can help your develop your own customized school strategic plan, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to set up a time to chat about your needs.

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To your success,

Douglas Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

info@halladayeducationgroup.com

Trends Your School Should Think About

Hi,

As a Canadian I am an avid hockey fan. Normally as a Vancouver Canuck fan there can be long periods of disappointment since we have never won the Stanley Cup. However, I am back on the bank wagon as Mats Sundin will be joining the Canucks in his first hockey game tonight. I will let you know how the game goes.

As a former Head of a number of school types (e.g., day, boarding, co-ed, single gender, international, prep, special needs, rural, urban) and now the President of a successful consulting firm, all of these entities have had something in common – a strategic plan to determine what the trends are in the local and global community and gauge how the school should move forward. The result is the development and implementation of strategies that will help the school to maximize its strengths against the going trends. This is at both the micro and macro levels. Some of these trends/threats have included: SARS, Mad Cow Disease, Soft Wood Embargoes, 9/11, recessions, poor board leadership, inheriting schools with dramatic drops in enrollment, and on and on. In every case, when one stops and analyzes what the strengths and weaknesses are of the school and then looks closely at the trends and threats, you can put together a plan that allow any school to grow and thrive. Trust me I have been there and I know that by combining the experience of your community and building ownership in your vision, you overcome any challenge and thrive.

Today I want to share with you what I believe are some of the trends that new and established schools should be thinking about.

Doug Halladay

President and Founder
Halladay Education Group Inc.
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

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In This Issue
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1. In The News

2. Services Your School Needs

3. Trends Your School Should Think About

4. Products To Invest In To Start And Lead Your School

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1. In The News
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RECESSION HITS PRIVATE SCHOOLS, TOO
Honolulu Advertiser - Honolulu, HI, USA
As many parents struggle to keep their children in private schools, the schools are experiencing their own troubles...


5 WAYS TO AFFORD PRIVATE SCHOOLING IN HARD TIMES
U.S. News & World Report - Washington, DC, USA
But according to a survey by the National Association of Independent Schools, the average median cost of private school tuition was a hefty $15763 during...

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2. Services Your School Will Need
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(A) STARTING YOUR A SCHOOL

Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a first impression. This is why you need a firm that has experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally If you would like more information about our services related to starting your school, please click here.

(B) SCHOOL STRATEGIC PLANNING

We can help you to develop a comprehensive Strategic Plan for your school that will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration to improve your school. If you would like more information about our services related to starting your school, please click here.

>>> (C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS

Do you want your school to have better leadership? Our full-day governance workshop in combination with our interactive online survey will fine-tune your board’s performance and refocus their mandate. If you would like more information about our services related to starting your school, please click here.

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3. Trends Your School Should Think About
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I have had to lead schools and support schools during some of the most challenging times in the last few decades, including: SARS, mad cow disease, 9/11, closing of local industries, and have always been able to increase school performance. Why? By having a plan in place that understands your school’s strengths and weakness, and looking at the future to determine what the trends and treats are that will impact your school. In today’s economy you cannot run your school by the calendar or from crisis to crisis, you need a coordinated plan that your community buys into and feels empowered to support.

I am not some sort of futurist, but rather an avid reader and one that tries to see patterns. Here are few of the trends that you should think about:

1. With the downturn in the economy there will be a drop in enrollment while parents will be looking for financial aid (and schools will be offering it). In turn, parents will become more in control since there will be more space and offerings to lesser capable students.
2. New models of public and private schools will grow.
3. The prolonged economic downturn will make teaching a preferred career and increase the number of teachers on the market.
4. Schools that successfully integrate technology to customize learning will leave other schools behind.
5. Political tensions will continue to splinter our world.
6. The aging population profile of North America, Western Europe, and Northeast Asia will drastically reduce competitiveness with younger.
7. Increased competition for students and teachers.
8. Rising tuitions may alienate parents, making schools less affordable or attractive to most of the marketplace.
9. Parents will be more consumer-oriented and less flexible to school rules and cultural norms, and moredifficult to manage.
10. A move from read-only to read-write culture, in which young people participate in the creation of the world around them. The "Net Generation," are less interested in experiences where they are passive recipients of media, culture, or, more relevant to this blog, news of global tragedy. They're looking to be engaged and put to work.
11. Traditional educators are experiencing something of a "competitive terror," as the oft-repeated statistics about the number of PhD's that China and India are producing compared to America's stagnant test scores, which will force a new creativeness and experimentation.
12. There is a feeling of something of a "generational imperative" among young people. It began earlier, but particularly in the wake of 9/11, the millennial generation feels a call to service that is putting significant pressure on educational institutions to create experiential programs that facilitate their development as global citizens.
13. There is an increase in for-profit schools. Entrepreneurs recognize that the public’s dissatisfaction with one-size-fits-all schools is more than just fodder for political debates. It is a tremendous business opportunity.
14. There is a growing effort by independent schools to expand marketing efforts beyond the traditional glossy brochure.
    

What can you do about this? The short answer is to develop your own strategic plan.

If you would like more information on how we can help your school develop your own customized strategic plan, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to set up a time to chat about your needs.

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4. Products To Invest In To Start Or Lead Your School
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Here are a set of popular Tool Kits to help you start and/or lead your school more effectively.

>> (A). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)

Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan effectively with our step-by-step, Strategic Planning Toolkit and Manual. Click here.

>> (B). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)

Are you still struggling with starting your School? We share with you how to start a school from the ground up. Click here.

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To your success,

Douglas Halladay
President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

P.S. Do not forget to check out our secure Online Store for ways to invest in improving or starting your own school or non-profit.

How To Bust The Recession

Hi,

I am finally back home after being on the road for 16 out of the last 25 days. And wouldn’t you know it, Vancouver is in the grips of winter with snow and minus temperatures. I even have my first head cold. For those of you new to our eNewsletter, I have been working with my great clients in Beijing, Calgary, and Tennessee helping to develop world class schools. HEG is back on track to support the development of the first schools in phase one of Masdar City in Abu Dhabi; the world’s first sustainable, carbon free city.

Being on the road I have not put enough time into Christmas shopping. When I was in Beijing I put a dent into the shopping list by visiting the Silk and Pearl Markets, but I had better get to those malls (sigh) to finish off the list. How are you doing at this time of the year?

With HEG now working in three different continents in a variety of cultures and economies I have the time to read many newspapers espousing on our current economic situation. For the most part it is not positive. Of course bad news always sells newspapers. However, I came across an article written in our local newspaper talking about how to Bust The Recession. The premise of the story focused on NOT buying into the doom and gloom of what the papers are telling us and get out and promote your organization even more. I love the quote – “I have heard about the recession thing and I have decided not to participate.” Is your school taking action or are you shutting down and cutting back on your marketing budget?

Please read on to find out more, why you should be spending more on your marketing budget when others are cutting back.

Doug Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

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In This Issue

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1. In The News

2. Services Your School Needs

3. How To Bust The Recession

4. Products To Invest In To Start And Lead Your School

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1. In The News

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Two Area Private Schools Heading In Opposite Directions

A Portage private school will be adding another grade next year, but a Catholic elementary in Three Rivers is ``strategizing'' on how to remain open in the face of falling enrollment and revenue.

The Cost of Losing Students

When public schools lose students to private facilities, they also lose funding

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2. Services Your School Needs

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>>> (A) STARTING YOUR OWN SCHOOL

Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a first impression. This is why you need a firm that has experience starting schools in USA and Canada. Our services include:

1. One-Day Comprehensive Overview Session

2. Formal Feasibility Study

3. Detailed Business Plan

4. Turn-Key School Formation Services

6. Ongoing Consulting Retainer

7. Ongoing Management and Operations Services

If you would like more information about our services related to starting your school, please call us at 1-604-868-0002, email at info@halladayeducationgroup.com, or click on here to download our brochure outlining services.

>>> (B) STRATEGIC PLANNING

We can develop a comprehensive Strategic Plan that will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration to improve your school.

Click here to download our brochure on our Strategic Planning process, or call us at 1-604-868-0002, or email at info@halladayeducationgroup.com

>>> (C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS

Do you want your school to have better leadership? Our full-day governance workshop and interactive online survey will fine-tune your board’s performance and refocus their mandate. Please email us at info@halladayeducationgroup.com , call us at 604-868-0002 to find out more about how we can help you, or click here to download our brochure.

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3. How To Bust The Recession

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I have had to market for enrollment during SARS, mad cow disease, 9/11, closing of local industries, and have always been able to increase enrollment. Why? Because I never cut back on marketing. Never. I belief is that you must continue to plant your seeds today to be able to harvest tomorrow. Yet, I see so many schools decide during hard times that marketing is the first place to cut back. This is a bad mistake.

As I read the article in our Vancouver paper I am again reminded of this solid business decision. Karo executive, Warren Baxter is the managing Director of Vancouver-based marketing firm and shares some of these gems about boycotting the recession. He spent more on marketing and improved his organization’s services. He even increased prices. When the recession ended, he had gained enough market share to transform his company.

His mantra is to resist the impulse to save money during hard times by weakening your brand. However, research shows that organizations that focus on maintaining or building brand value increase their market share coming out of the recession.

Companies that cut marketing may get a short-term savings. However that boost will not last. Organizations that protect or enhance their brands will gradually expand market share and profitability as the recession ends.

Organizations that discount prices and trim service in a recession risk eroding the value of their brand. Only 10 percent of the marketplace is solely motivated by price. This means that 90 percent is motivated by something more than price. So he believes that the best strategy is offensive not defensive.

However, in an economic era when consumers are tightening their wallets, it is a strategy that takes courage to implement.

Are you building your school’s brand?

If you would like more information on to improve your school’s marketing and admissions strategies, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to set up a time to chat about your needs.

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4. Products To Invest In To Start And Lead Your School

============================================

Here are a set of popular Tool Kits to help you start and/or lead your school more effectively.

>> (A). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)

Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan effectively with our step-by-step, Strategic Planning Toolkit and Manual. Click here to get more details.

>> (B). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)

Are you still struggling with starting your School? We share with you how to start a school from the ground up. Click here to get more the details.

To your success,

Douglas Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

P.S. Do not forget to check out our secure Online Store for ways to invest in improving or starting your own school or non-profit. Here is the link:

--> http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/products/products.php

Board Evaluation-Assessment Workshops

Hi,

One of the most critical elements of starting and leading a sustainable private school is the leadership of your school. It starts right at the top with your board of governors. They have a responsibility to achieve the mission of the school for not just today’s students, but for the next generation of students.

Do you think your board of governors is collectively and individually doing the best they can?

Our firm is positioned to help your board understand what great boards should be doing, figuring out what they are not doing well, and then putting a game plan together to make immediate improvements.

Please read on to find out more,

Doug Halladay

President and Founder
Halladay Education Group Inc.
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

If you want to find out how, you can click here for board evaluation workshops.

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Board Performance Workshop and Online Survey

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Are you looking for a Workshop that will Improve the Performance of Your Board?

During the past 25 years, I have worked with many schools...PreK-12, University Prep, Special Needs, Single Gender, Co-Ed, International, Boarding, and ESL. They were all trying to develop a Governance model that focused trustees on the critical elements of exceptional boards, but they were not firing on all cylinders.

If your board is not performing as effectively as you need, or you want to make it better, we can help. Discover a way to help your trustees become an exceptional governance unit – quickly, measurably, and easily. The solution is my…

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Board Performance Workshop & Online Survey
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As the Chair, Trustee, or Senior Administrator of a Private School, does your board experience any of the following:

• Trustee behaviour that is unproductive and not aligned with your mission;
• Board agenda that is controlled by crisis rather than a clear vision;
• Board committees that exist only because they have always been there, not because they are needed;
• No link between budget, tuition setting, or a long-term plan;
• Blurring of boundaries and channels between the roles of the Board and Administration;
• Unsure of how to move your Board and school to the next level;
• Board commitment greater than you would like it to be and has become too taxing and stressful; Inability to attract and keep good trustees.
  

Well, if one or more of these apply to you, and you know in your heart that you really deserve to work with an effective, positive board of governors, and you would like to know how to do it, then you need a proven workshop to do it. It includes:

1). Five separate statistically-driven online surveys with your staff/faculty, parents, student, and/or alumni for board feedback on what is working and what is not

2). The board survey is a 360° online “Board Performance Self-Assessment Survey” based on years of research that evaluates your board’s performance in the following areas and builds a profile of your board’s performance gaps in:

• Mission and Purpose
• Strategic Planning
• Programs and Services
• Financial Resources and Oversight
• Fiscal Oversight
• Risk Management Policies
• Support and Review of the Head of School
• Relationship between Board and Staff
• Public Image
• Selection and Orientation of New Board Members
• Board Structure and Efficient Operation of the Board
• Board Committees and Task Forces
• Individual self-evaluation

3). Facilitated workshop that assists the board in developing strategies and action plans to close your performance gap (I can develop a mini strategic plan for board improvement). Board members will candidly discuss and reach consensus on issues surrounding the performance of your board and lay the groundwork for long-term improvement.

4). Hands-on case scenarios that highlight effective board practices and create discussion points around familiar issues that need a consistent board approach

5). Receive a “Summative Board Report” providing a comprehensive overview of the board’s survey results, issues, and a plan of action for improvement

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HOW DOES YOUR BOARD IMPROVE?
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When You Take The Workshop, Your Board Will Walk Away With a Different Outlook…

• Identifying critical areas of board operation that need attention and using it as a springboard to strengthen board performance
• Assessing progress towards existing plans, goals, and objectives
• Better preparation for a Strategic Plan or major Fundraising Campaign Serving as an effective orientation and inclusion process for new board members
• Building trust, respect, team-work, and communication amongst board members and the Head
• Clarifying the respective roles of the board and staff
• Gaining credibility for the organization amongst donors to support fundraising
• Ensuring that all board members have a shared understanding of the board’s roles and responsibilities
• Enabling individual board members to work more effectively as part of the team
• Identifying and reaching consensus on critical issues before they become a crisis
• Building a stronger Head-Board relationship
  

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YOUR NEXT STEP
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If you are interested in finding more details about the process you can contact Doug Halladay at:

• phone (604-868-0002) or
• email (info@HalladayEducationGroup.com).
  

I look forward to learning more about your institution and helping your board to make your goals a reality.

To your success,

Douglas Halladay
President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

The Greater The Crisis The Greater The Opportunity

IN EVERY CRISIS THERE IS OPPORTUNITY

AND The Greater The crisis The Greater The Opportunity.

It is true that this may be the greatest economic crisis this country has suffered in nearly eighty years. It is also true that it will get worse no matter what the new president may do. And it is also true that some of the greatest opportunities that your school may see in decades are hidden within this crisis.

Mark my words: Over the next few years, you will see schools that find and mine those opportunities positively explode in size and revenue. You will see success made by those who discover ways to serve parents and students, and not only survive but thrive.

STRATEGIC PLANNING IS THE TOOL YOU WILL USE TO LEAD YOUR SCHOOL THROUGH THESE CHALLENGING TIMES

Your strategic plan is critical to the future success of your school; be it new or established. As the world’s economy shifts, powerful forces will impact your school, your students, and staff. Now more than ever, your board needs a powerful plan to maximize your strengths, foresee your threats, reduce your weaknesses, and take advantage of future opportunities. As others retrench or react to the ripples of current events, proactive schools like you should be putting your plan together to build a foundation to make you even stronger.

Your plan will steer you through these turbulent times.

Our proven planning process results in the development of a powerful tool that your school will buy into and will be implemented quickly to support your school over the next five turbulent years. I have taken the liberty of including a recent testimonial letter from a private school just like yours reflecting on the impact our planning process had on their school. Click here.

The unique process we use to develop your plan will include three site visits over a four to six month period to establish where you are now, where do you want to be, how do you get there, and how do you know you have gotten there, providing:

1. Six onsite focus group sessions with parents, students, staff, faculty, board members, alumni, and/or former members of your community;
2. Five separate statistically-driven online surveys with your staff/faculty, board, parents, and/or alumni;
3. Re/defining your core values, mandates, mission and vision statements, and educational philosophy;
4. Identifying impeding critical issues and developing solution-based goals, rationale, and objectives;
5. And most importantly, developing detailed action plans to actualize your goals into operational tasks to make your vision a reality.

My experienced approach results in both the compass and the roadmap to guide your staff and board with a measurable plan that will coordinate the priorities of your efforts to maximize performance or overcome the challenges that are coming.

If this is something your school could benefit from and you would like to find out more about our planning process, you will want review the attached Overview Document that outlines our planning approach. And yes, it can all be customized to your school.

Click on or cut-and-past the following link into your Internet web browser to access the letter

http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/files/TestimonialLetterVISGA.pdf

As a past Head of School, I recognize how invaluable a plan is to the long-term success of your school. Now with today’s precarious environment a plan is not negotiable.

At the time of this mailing there is still time to develop a strategic plan before the end of your school year.

If you would like to touch base with me about our planning services, you can contact me by:

• phone (604-868-0002) or
• email (info@HalladayEducationGroup.com).

Yours very truly,

Douglas Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group Inc.

www.HalladayEducationGroup.com