Hello,
Most schools boards are driven by the calendar of events, their Head of School, crisis, or their own personal agenda. So few boards have taken the time to prioritize what their overall needs are and develop a plan of action to achieve it in a coordinated fashion. That means your board should determine your annual goals (or even better a 5-year strategic plan), set up your board committees to monitor their implementation, and delegate the goal’s achievement by operationalizing the goals via your Head of School and staff.
Many schools spend their time reacting to unexpected changes instead of anticipating and preparing for them. This is called crisis management. Schools caught off guard spend a great deal of time and resources "playing catch up." They use up energy and funds coping with immediate problems with little energy left to anticipate and prepare for the future. It does not have to be that way.
The alternative is HEG’s finely tuned school review and board governance workshop that provides a viable alternative to reactive management. Our systematic process provides definite objectives and a road map that can be implemented and evaluated immediately. This allows your school to:
- Identify areas of operation needing attention and use it as a springboard to strengthen performance;
- Identify and reach consensus on critical issues (e.g., finance, enrollment, marketing, fundraising, HR, academic programs, student performance, facilities) before they become a crisis;
- Articulate a uniform, shared mission and vision, and provide a clearer focus for the school, producing efficiency and effectiveness, participation, and ownership by stakeholders;
- Allocate resources to opportunities and improve finances and projections;
- Build trust, respect, team-work, and communication amongst board members and Administration;
- Create a framework that guides decision making and ensures that members of the school are working towards the same goals, even if the environment around your school changes;
- Ensure that board members understand their roles, responsibilities, and board-wide priorities;
- Monitor performance and provide benchmarks from which progress can be measured.
We can provide your school with a combination of services. During the fall school year, our firm is being retained by many schools to evaluate their school and provide a one-day board workshop for new and existing board members. This allows your board to understand where your school is at now, what needs immediate focus, and how you can operate as a board to achieve these prioritized improvements. This keeps everyone on the same page and prioritizes your efforts for the remainder of the school year. There’s also a cost savings of 25% if you book both services as a combination, since there is an overlap of services. However, you will get the most value if you book the School Evaluation and Board Governance Workshop for October, November, or December. Here is an overview:
A school review is critical to knowing if you’re headed in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.” We are confident that our unprecedented experience with quality school improvement will broaden the capacity of your school and its sustainable operation and enrollment. We are ideally placed to assess your school’s performance and develop comprehensive strategies and supporting action plans for your Board and Administration to lead your school. Our evaluation process identifies areas needing organizational improvement to assist with revitalizing your school. To establish a complete picture of your school’s performance against established benchmarks and to determine areas of priority that your school needs, we implement a three-pronged approach to assess your current situation and gather measurable data:
- Multiple surveys of your school’s community (e.g., parents, staff, board), and;
- One-on-one discussions with your School’s Executive Committee and Board members.
We evaluate your school applying our in-depth background of starting, leading, and managing private schools. After our online surveys and two day on-site sessions are completed we will follow up with a summary report that provides a range of recommendations and action plan strategies to improve your school. The Summary Report prioritizes critical issues that you need to improve upon, as well as the "indicators of success" you need to move towards the continued improvement of your school. Our methodology focuses on a “SWOT” analysis approach identifying your school’s:
- Weaknesses;
- Opportunities, and;
- Threats / Trends.
Our methodology involves an analysis of your key performance benchmarks utilizing a four-step approach:
- Two Days of onsite interviews with key stakeholders (parents, students, staff, and/or board).
- Confidential statistically-based online surveys with your community (staff, board, parents), and;
- One-on-one discussions with your School’s Executive Committee, Board Members, and Administration.
We then develop the final report that summarizes areas that need to be addressed for short- and long-term success, as well as areas to celebrate. This includes an action plan to mobilize your board and administration. The final report focuses your path for organizational improvement.
In addition, we can provide a one-day follow-up board governance workshop with your school’s trustees. Our thoughtful workshop provides feedback to analyze and develop a clear set of strategies to guide your school’s leadership with the ongoing development of your school and governance.
The Board Governance Workshop and Survey refocuses Trustees on the Critical Elements of Effective Board Performance. This includes a comprehensive 360° online “Board Performance Self-Assessment Survey” based on years of research that assesses your board’s performance and a one day workshop to identify and resolve critical governance issues, review best practices, and focus areas for board development. This includes:
- Participation in hands-on case scenarios that highlight effective board practices.
- Building a profile of your board’s performance gap based on confidential responses to the online survey and identifying areas that need immediate improvement (the survey is implemented as part of the school evaluation process).
- Facilitation of a one-day workshop that assists the board in developing strategies and action plans to close your performance gap for the governance of leadership of the school.
- As part of the process, the Board members candidly discuss and reach consensus on issues surrounding the performance of your board and lay the groundwork for long-term improvement.
You receive a follow-up “Summative Board Performance Report” providing a comprehensive overview of the board’s survey results, issues, and a plan of action for improvement.
NEXT STEP
If you’d like to find out more about our firm’s school evaluation and board workshop services and learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail or call us at +1-604-868-0002.
Book now before October and November are full so that your board is focused and effective for the balance of the school year.
To your success,
Doug Halladay
President
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