The pressures and challenges faced by independent schools have been steadily increasing for over two decades: declining demographics, market competition, financial sustainability, and the need to make significant programmatic changes in response to a rapidly changing world. And in 2020, there has never been a more urgent time when we need to push the boundaries of our thinking about schools and what they can become.
Episodes:
March 9th, 2021
Dr. Thomas R. Rochon,
President, ERB
February 9th, 2021
Dr. Ken Wallace,
Superintendent of Maine Township High School
January 12th, 2021
Kate Windsor,
Head, Miss Porter’s School
December 8th, 2020
Ben Nelson,
Founder and CEO, Minerva Schools
November 10th, 2020
Peter Nilsson,
Head, King’s Academy; Founder, Athena
John Gulla and Grant Lichtman have visited and worked with over 650 schools in the last eight years. They have a truly unique lens on how some schools are successfully overcoming the inertia that makes sustainable change so difficult in schools. John and Grant are launching “If Not Now?”, a free, interactive, collaborative virtual event series, specifically targeted to independent school heads, members of school leadership teams, and trustees. Each show will be an interactive 45-minute dive into a specific area that impacts the long-term independent school value proposition. Each show will feature a special guest who is pushing the leading edge of the education sector, and will provoke thinking in ways that most of us may not have considered.
Each show will include:
Brief comments from John and Grant on what the future may look like over the horizon
Three big “best shot” ideas from the special guest
Breakout collaboration with peers
Sharing of exemplar schools, programs, and links to additional resources
John Gulla has been the Executive Director of the EE Ford Foundation since 2013. He was formerly head of The Blake School, and has been working in and with independent schools since 1980.
Grant Lichtman is an internationally-recognized thought leader in the future of K-12 education, and is author of four books on school transformation. He was formerly COO, CFO, and a trustee at Francis Parker School.