THURSDAY, JANUARY 28
As a reminder, all times listed below are in Central. 

• 8:00 – 8:30 am Coffee & Conversation
• 8:30 – 9:45 am Welcome Remarks & Keynote Presentation: From Meeting the Moment to Meeting the Future, Ian Symmonds
• 10:00 – 11:00 am Session I, select from:
  • Managing Your Board: Secrets of the Trade, Rob Evans
  • Sustaining Faculty Morale, Mental Health, and, Yes, Even Joy During the Pandemic, Michael Thompson
• 11:15 am – 12:15 pm Session II, select from:
  • Students of Color at Predominantly White Independent Schools, Jackson Collins
  • 6-Word Memoir, Kim Peeples
• 12:30 – 1:15 pm ISACS Annual Meeting, ISACS Executive Committee
• 1:30 – 2:30 pm Session III, select from:
  • Whole, Not Perfect: Being Who You Are With Love & Courage, Dave Mochel
  • Culturally Responsive Leadership & Game Play, Jeff Utecht
• 2:45 – 3:45 pm Keynote Presentation: Why Humor is Essential in 2021: Cultivating Civil & Creative Wit in Independent Schools, Gina Barreca
• 3:45 – 4:45 pm Design your Own Non-school Adventure—Do something Kind for Yourself
• 4:45 – 6:00 pm Social Hour

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29
As a reminder, all times listed below are in Central. 

• 8:00 – 8:30 am Coffee & Conversation
• 8:30 – 9:45 am Keynote Presentation: The Identity Loyalty Imperative: How to Thrive, Americus Reed
• 10:00 – 11:00 am Session IV, select from:
  • Hot Legal Issues: The Changing Legal Landscape & Ongoing Challenges, Caryn Pass
  • Recruiting Faculty of Color in Independent Schools: The Difference between Commitment & Concern, Warren Reid
• 11:15 am – 12:15 pm Facilitated Affinity Groups, select from:
  • A Surprising Innovation That You Will Keep
  • I Could Use a Different Perspective on This Challenge: A Consulting Protocol
  • CanYou Believe This? Surprising Stories from the Field
• 12:15 – 12:45 pm Sponsor Breakout Sessions
• 12:45 pm Enjoy the rest of the afternoon to process, organize your thoughts & plan applications to share and use when you return to school.

From Meeting the Moment to Meeting the Future
IAN SYMMONDS, IAN SYMMONDS & ASSOCIATES INC.
Sponsored by: Resource Group 175

While the pandemic has undoubtedly wreaked havoc on the world, there are signs of positive change emerging in the education sector. There has been an explosion of innovation which creates a tremendous opportunity for private education in the future. Fixed mindsets are changing, as are schedules, assessment, pricing, and delivery. One could argue that, as a result, we soon might see a more impactful and resilient learning organization. Join Symmonds as he outlines the future opportunities he sees for our industry.

Why Humor is Essential in 2021: Cultivating Civil & Creative Wit in Independent Schools
GINA BARRECA, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT & AUTHOR
Sponsored by: EdwardsCo Private School Marketing

A shared sense of humor—the kind that bonds a community, a faculty, a school’s alumni, and its current students—is not only appropriate during tough times, but also essential. The most effective and memorable educators have always known this. Yet the connections constructed and supported through humor have usually been regarded as intuitive rather than understood as sets of skills and patterns. We have as much of an obligation to help our students develop their senses of humor as we do to help them develop the skills to read, write, and add. Humor is a survival skill and, as such, needs to be modeled, demonstrated, reinforced, and enjoyed by the adults along with the children. You must learn to be fully there, laughing at the funny parts. For children, adults provide the laugh tracks. That is how they learn where the lines are—the hilarious lines and the ones that cross a boundary—by listening to where the adults they admire and respect laugh. Humor, when born of creativity and original thinking, encourages us to find resilience, strength, and courage. It helps to form our ideas, articulate our arguments in a precise and persuasive way, and, at its best, allows us to be generous with those who disagree. The best humor might have you roll over laughing, but it also helps you stand up for something.

The Identity Loyalty Imperative: How to Thrive
AMERICUS REED, WHARTON SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Sponsored by: Carney Sandoe & Associates

Professor of marketing and host of the podcast Marketing with Wharton’s Hip Hop Prof, Reed will discuss the concept of Identity Loyalty Imperative and describe how it relates to creating a deeply emotional and lifelong connection with your faculty, staff, families, and students. Identity loyalty is when a product, brand, service, or organization becomes internalized as part of you. Learn how to create identity loyalty from scratch, how to monitor and nurture it over time, and how to make sure that your school can, through word of mouth and advocacy, create a community of fierce loyalists who will protect your brand, defend it, and do your marketing for free. The concept of identity loyalty is a powerful tool to utilize the psychology of affiliation, tribalism, and belonging to create a connection that becomes virtually impossible to sever. Reed will discuss tools available to harness your school’s data to effectively create its identity loyalty through the most efficient use of the resources available to your school. The principles and tools are relevant to Fortune 500 companies and applicable to school communities of all sizes.

Managing Your Board: Secrets of the Trade
ROB EVANS, PSYCHOLOGIST, AUTHOR & SCHOOL CONSULTANT
A well-functioning board is crucial to a head’s success and happiness. Yet however devoted, smart, and generous they may be, trustees are rarely easy to manage—especially in uncertain and dangerous times. Evans will lead a discussion about how best to “manage up’’ and help keep a board in top form.

Sustaining Faculty Morale, Mental Health, and, Yes, Even Joy During the Pandemic
MICHAEL THOMPSON, PSYCHOLOGIST, AUTHOR & SCHOOL CONSULTANT
The safety demands of the virus have made everything in school much slower and more difficult. As one head reported, “teaching is 3x harder, leading is 3x harder, and everyone appears exhausted.” How can a school leader continue to support faculty throughout the year, and how can one do so without breaking down from the weight of the effort? Thompson will discuss the obvious challenges of leading during a pandemic and the many creative solutions he has seen employed to lift faculty morale.

Students of Color at Predominantly White Independent Schools
JACKSON COLLINS, PREP FOR PREP
Examine the intersection of the Black@ Instagram movement and the findings from a mixed-methods research study on the experiences of students of color who attend predominantly white independent schools. The study, based on 525 participants in 6-12th grade from 74 independent schools in the Northeast, presents statistical and narrative data that make the case for a reexamination of how we support students of color and how we engage the broader school community in diversity, inclusion, and antiracist work. The findings illuminate specific areas of student support and pain points for students of color who attend predominantly white institutions. This session also will examine the ways in which we can improve advocacy, equity, and communication within our school communities.

6-Word Memoir
KIM PEEPLES, GROVES ACADEMY (MN)
Take a break from hectic school life and challenge yourself to capture your thoughts, your life, your creativity, and your adventures in exactly 6 words. Using Larry Smith’s model of a 6-Word Memoir, hear how others have met the 6-Word challenge while connecting with other heads. Write your own memoirs and enjoy those written by your colleagues by participating in a creative and fun break-away from the challenges of everyday life.

Whole, Not Perfect: Being Who You Are With Love & Courage
DAVE MOCHEL, MINDFULNESS COACH
Life can be challenging and uncertain. Our efforts to be perfect can make life exhausting and frustrating. As a leader we need to focus on what matters most—this does not mean that we must always have the answer, to always appear shiny, or never be without our own needs. We can be fully human. In doing so, not only can we be healthier and happier, but we can build cultures that are more joyful and loving. Leave with specific practices for peacefully and powerfully encountering and working with discomfort, resistance, challenge, and uncertainty.

Culturally Responsive Leadership & Game Play
JEFF UTECHT, EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT
Join us as we have some fun playing a game that will be educational while learning how games can lead to more culturally responsive teaching practices. Play along and discover how we can utilize games within our leadership to support staff and each other.

Hot Legal Issues: The Changing Legal Landscape & Ongoing Challenges
CARYN PASS, VENABLE LLC
These past many months have been challenging for independent schools in ways we never imagined and have resulted in legal exposure requiring creative and new strategies for mitigating such exposure. Join the conversation about the legal landscape facing ISACS leaders and discuss strategies for proactively planning for the challenges ahead while considering legal exposure in the current “new normal”. The goal of the session is to ensure that all heads leave the presentation with a plan for staying calm, rested, and stress free.

Recruiting Faculty of Color in Independent Schools: The Difference between Commitment
& Concern
WARREN REID, NEMNET
Why are some schools more successful than others at recruiting faculty of color? Join us and find out! This session will focus on the challenges, best practices, and strategies associated with faculty of color recruitment. It will leverage a national research project and over 20 years of diversity recruitment experience in independent schools and is designed to empower individuals and institutions with information and resources to maximize recruitment efforts. Leave with concrete strategies along with next steps to address individual obstacles and needs.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28
12:30 – 1:15 PM CENTRAL/1:30 – 2:15 PM EASTERN
Sponsored by: Finalsite

ISACS Annual Meeting
ISACS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Members of the ISACS Executive Committee will provide an update on the state of the association. In addition, trustees and officers will be elected for terms beginning July 2021.

All ISACS heads can attend the Annual Meeting (regardless of whether you register for the Heads Conference) and a link to join the Zoom meeting will be made available in January.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28
4:45 – 6:00 PM CENTRAL/5:45 – 7:00 PM EASTERN
Sponsored by: Flik Independent School Dining

ISACS Social Hour
Join ISACS colleagues for a Mixology Class: Creating the Perfect Cranberry Mule with Homemade Cranberry Juice (recipe card) followed by What Are You Drinking & Why? Hosted and moderated by Mary Menacho, ISACS Executive Director and other ISACS Staff.

Friday, JANUARY 29
11:15 am – 12:15 pm CENTRAL/12:15 - 1:15 Eastern 
Conference attendees should select one of the following Facilitated Affinity Groups to join:

• A Surprising Innovation That You Will Keep
  Join a group to share innovations that you know you will maintain after Covid.
   
• I Could Use a Different Perspective on This Challenge: A Consulting Protocol
  Bring any dilemma that would benefit from collegial consideration using a specific consulting protocol. Each participant will serve as both a presenter and a consultant to others.
   
• Can You Believe This? Surprising Stories from the Field
  Share your most amazing, exasperating, and entertaining stories from the last 10 months. Come and be entertained and affirmed by sharing the stories that only other leaders can fully appreciate!

Friday, JANUARY 29
12:15 – 12:45 PM CENTRAL/1:15 – 1:45 PM PM EASTERN
Join a sponsor breakout session and be entered into an ISACS raffle for a chance to win (3) $100 credits towards ISACS webinars to be used by 6/30/21. View the Sponsor Breakout Description.

• Flik Independent School Dining - Fact vs Fiction: Understanding Nutrition and Immunity
  Now more than ever, keeping our immune system strong is a top priority. Join FLIK for a conversation where we explore the relationship between nutrition and the immune system, address myths on how nutritional status may impact infectious diseases (including COVID-19) and provide tips for meeting dietary recommendations to support a strong immune system and overall health.
   
• Finalsite - Trends & Tools for Digital Engagement to Drive Results
  Explore the latest trends in integration with web and data that heads of school need to know, with an eye toward driving enrollment through web engagement and increasing communications and retention with digital workflows. Learn the latest best practices to drive digital engagement and improve retention, enrollment, and advancement. You’ll leave inspired to implement new tools to increase enrollment, bolster retention, and make your life easier.
   
• Carney Sandoe & Associates - Independent School Leadership, Moving Into 2021
  Join a Q&A with Carney Sandoe’s President, Devereaux McClatchey.
   
• Resource Group 175 - Q & A with John Farber
  Join John Farber, Managing Partner at RG175, an introduction about the firm, an overview of what we are hearing from schools globally, followed by a Q & A.
   
• EdwardsCo Private School Marketing - Two Hidden Reasons Why Your Enrollment Marketing Is Underperforming
  Join Maria Kadison, President & CEO of EdwardsCo, for this timely discussion and Q&A. Each attendee will receive a PDF Guide and Worksheet to determine if your school has fallen victim to these two hidden reasons. More important now than ever!

Where do I download the latest version of Zoom?
You can download the latest version of Zoom from our Download Center. Learn more about downloading Zoom.

How to I use Zoom on my PC or Mac?
After downloading Zoom, learn how to use the Zoom Desktop Client.

Do you need an account to participate?
A Zoom account is not required if you are strictly joining Zoom Meetings as a participant. If someone invites you to their meeting, you can join as a participant without creating an account. Learn more about joining a Zoom meeting. 

How do I signup for Zoom?
You can sign up for a free Zoom account at zoom.us/signup. 

How much does Zoom cost?
A basic Zoom license is free. Learn more about available Zoom plans and pricing.

How do I join a Zoom meeting?
You can join a meeting by clicking the meeting link or going to join.zoom.us and entering in the meeting ID. Learn more about joining a meeting.  

How do I join computer/device audio?
On most devices, you can join computer/device audio by clicking Join Audio, Join with Computer Audio, or Audio to access the audio settings. Learn more about connecting your audio.

Can I Use Bluetooth Headset?
Yes, as long as the Bluetooth device is compatible with the computer or mobile device that you are using.

Do I have to have a webcam to join on Zoom?
While you are not required to have a webcam to join a Zoom Meeting or Webinar, you will not be able to transmit video of yourself. You will continue to be able to listen and speak during the meeting, share your screen, and view the webcam video of other participants.