Student Support as Infrastructure: What Counseling Teams Need to Lead
Counselors and social workers hold clinical licenses and second master’s degrees, and schools still park them in a box off to the side. In a recent episode of The Table, Sherann Alkins of Counselor and Concierge and I made the case for student support as infrastructure, not a service layer.
The Problem Was Never the Problem: What Student Life Leaders Should Reflect On This Summer
The incidents that consumed your year were symptoms. The presenting problem is rarely the actual problem, and summer is the first stretch quiet enough to ask what yours were pointing at. Next year’s changes will only be as good as this year’s diagnosis. Look for patterns, not incidents.
The Most Important Data Schools Ignore Is Relational
We are excellent at measuring what students know, but we are often data-blind to how they—and our adults—actually feel. Discover why relational data is the missing link in your school’s strategic plan and how treating connection as measurable infrastructure can prevent your most talented people from drifting away.
Belonging Is Built in Small Moments: Why Micro-Communities Matter More Than Ever
We often try to “program” belonging through large assemblies and school-wide events, but real connection happens in the small moments. Discover why micro-communities are the protective relational infrastructure students need and how to identify the hidden risk of social isolation in a crowded school.
Advisory Alignment: How to Build an Advisory That Actually Works
Plenty of independent schools have advisory. Far fewer have an advisory that works, and the gap is almost always design rather than the advisors. In a recent episode of The Table, Alan Brown of the Advisory Alignment Collective and I worked through what advisors actually need: alignment, connection, and support.
Your Strategic Plan Won’t Matter if Your Adults Don’t Trust Each Other
We often treat “culture” as a soft goal, but relational trust is actually your school’s most important operational infrastructure. Without it, strategic plans fail, and initiative fatigue sets in. Learn how to identify the hidden costs of fractured adult culture and how to rebuild trust before your next big launch.
Student Gambling in Schools: What K-12 Leaders Need to Know
Sports betting is everywhere, and our students are not immune. In a recent episode of The Table, recovery advocate Saul Malek explained why gambling is reaching kids earlier than we think, why it is so easy to miss, and what schools can do to respond with both compassion and accountability.
When Everyone Is Done but the Work Isn’t: Leading Adults Through End-of-Year Exhaustion
June in a school building is a masterclass in endurance. When your team is “done” but the work isn’t, how do you lead without burning out? Explore how to maintain consistency, name the fatigue, and use small leadership moves to stabilize your adult culture during the final stretch.
When Student Support Systems Don’t Talk: Why Independent Schools Need Connected Infrastructure
When information about students lives in notebooks, Google Drive folders, and individual inboxes, the village around each kid stops being a village. In a recent episode of The Table, I talked with Pete Russell and Victoria Bush from August Schools about the real cost of fragmented student support infrastructure.
Using End-of-Year Data for K-12 School Strategic Planning
What feels obvious in May is often forgotten by August. Discover how to treat end-of-year trends as strategic insights, capture learnings before they disappear, and turn reflections into concrete structural shifts that will actually shape your school’s future.