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Forecast 2025 - 2026: Vanishing Point
A forecast for the independent school year to come.

Mike Vachow
Jul 152 min read
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Coming From Inside the House
Challenges to independent schools' values will come not from executive orders but from inside their own communities.

Mike Vachow
Apr 23 min read
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Hard Head Facts
Two hard things about headship, deal-breakers if you can't or aren't willing to do them.

Mike Vachow
Mar 113 min read
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Outlook: 2024 - 2025
Predictions of the themes that will dominate the independent school conversation in the year ahead.

Mike Vachow
Jul 29, 20242 min read
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New Heads: First 90 Days
Some frank counsel for newly appointed, first time heads of independent schools.

Mike Vachow
Jul 2, 20243 min read
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Turning Down the Job
Our customers come to schools with jobs to be done, but some of them we can't do or can't do well.

Mike Vachow
Mar 3, 20243 min read
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Arcane Expertise
Heads often become expert in unusual subjects. Mine was neighbors.

Mike Vachow
Jan 30, 20243 min read
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High Touch
Leverage the high touch moments/locations of the school day--arrival, lunch, dismissal--by being present in them as often as possible.

Mike Vachow
Nov 13, 20233 min read
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Conference Recap
A collection of my discoveries at the 2023 ISACS Annual Conference.

Mike Vachow
Nov 5, 20232 min read
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Conflict and Care
Until the adults can respond productively to conflict in schools, the kids will not be all right.

Mike Vachow
Aug 31, 20232 min read
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Forecast
A forecast of the issues that will resonate through the 2023 - 2024 school year.

Mike Vachow
Jul 31, 20232 min read
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Head's Goals
The creation of a shared understanding of the head's work is one of the most important exercises on the board calendar.

Mike Vachow
May 15, 20235 min read
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Head's Report
The head's report on the board agenda holds enormous potential for heads to build political capital.

Mike Vachow
May 1, 20232 min read
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Firsthand
Very few jobs in an independent school can accommodate alternative work schedules.

Mike Vachow
Mar 29, 20233 min read
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The Year in Review: 2022
A brief review of the top story lines for independent schools in 2022.

Mike Vachow
Dec 24, 20223 min read
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Simple Gifts
A list of simple gifts heads can give themselves during winter break to boost second semester initiatives.

Mike Vachow
Nov 29, 20222 min read
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Break a Leg
Shared experiences, shared challenge are the return path to joy in the schoolhouse. Performing arts people know this.

Mike Vachow
Nov 2, 20223 min read
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Boomerang Carrot
To retain students and faculty, independent schools should remove uncertainty when and wherever possible.

Mike Vachow
Sep 30, 20223 min read
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Work
"Quiet quitting" might work in some occupations. Education is not one of them.

Mike Vachow
Sep 2, 20224 min read
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Communication and Recruitment
A lasting change from the pandemic: schools will need dedicated communication and recruitment leaders.

Mike Vachow
May 16, 20222 min read
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