In a market where families have more options than ever, the schools that will win are the ones willing to ask hard questions about who they are, who they serve, and what they will stop doing. In this conversation, Peter Baron and David Hanson, founder of Winthrop and Associates, dig into what it actually takes to build a strategy that wins your market.

Winning requires starting in the right place. Most schools are trying to compete while building on a business model they have never honestly examined. Personnel costs running 60 to 80 percent of the budget, tuition covering a shrinking share of operating costs, and program portfolios that grow by addition rather than subtraction. Both Peter and David make the case that strategy must be rooted in a clear-eyed assessment of the business model first, before a single new idea gets added to the list.

That shared conviction is what led them to build Strategy+ The School Operating System that helps schools assess their model, make real strategic choices, and move to execution in four months. This conversation is a window into that thinking, and a useful starting point for any leadership team ready to compete with clarity and intention. business model first, before a single new idea gets added to the list.

1. Pause before planning. Before launching your next strategic plan, commit three to six months to a rigorous review of your business model. Assess both the revenue and expense sides with fresh eyes, not prior-cycle assumptions.
2. Dynamic Staffing Models: Since staffing accounts for a significant portion of school budgets, there is an invitation to explore flexible, fractional, or outsourced roles to support long-term sustainability.
3. Map your non-tuition revenue opportunities. Inventory your facilities, programs, and partnerships. Identify two or three mission-aligned revenue streams that are currently underutilized and assign someone to build a business case for each.
4. Establish a decision framework with your board before generating ideas. Agree upfront on the criteria that will govern what moves forward into planning. Getting that alignment in place before ideas are on the table makes it much easier to say no without conflict.
5. Ask who you want to serve, and gather external data to answer that question. Don't rely on internal assumptions. Get an actual market perspective on how your school is perceived, what families value, and where your brand stands relative to your competitive set.

What would it mean for your school to actually have a compensation system rather than just a collection of decisions made under pressure? Cliff Kling has spent two years at Mission & Data helping independent schools answer that question, and before that, 24 years inside schools as CFO, general counsel, and president. His vantage point is rare: he has lived the problem from the inside and now helps schools solve it from the outside.

In this conversation, Cliff walks through why faculty compensation keeps breaking down in independent schools, why the basic laws of supply and demand do not apply here the way leaders often assume, and what it actually takes to build a system that is fair, transparent, and sustainable over time.

He covers the shift from loyalty-based to lifestyle-based employment contracts, the three-legged stool of salary design, evaluation, and benefits, the honest trade-offs between step-and-lane and banded systems, and why implementation almost always fails when schools try to move too fast. If your school has ever patched a compensation problem instead of fixing it, this episode will show you what it actually takes to fix it.

New for Moonshot Lab members: a premium version of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast! Members receive extended, members-only conversations through a private podcast feed, available exclusively inside Moonshot Lab.

1. The Breakdown of Supply and Demand: While demand for teachers remains high, the national supply has plummeted-falling from 180,000 education degrees in the 1970s to just 86,000 in 2020. Traditional market corrections are stalled by school financial models that rely heavily on personnel costs and tuition ceilings.
2. The Lifestyle Contract Shift: The workforce has moved away from the 20th-century loyalty contract toward a lifestyle contract. Modern employees prioritize flexibility, total rewards, and continued relevance over long-term tenure and traditional pensions.
3. The Perils of System Creep: Without a rigorous system, schools often drift into having dozens of individual negotiated contracts. This leads to inequity where newer hires earn nearly as much as veterans with 20 years of experience, creating deep-seated resentment.
4. The Closed System Design Challenge: Effective redesign requires treating compensation as a closed system during the planning phase. By working with existing budget dollars first, schools are forced to make honest trade-offs between salary increases and benefit enhancements before adding new funds.
5. Defining the Role is a Prerequisite: Fixing pay requires first defining the specific expectations of a full-time teacher. This clarity sets a baseline for what is covered by a base salary versus what truly earns a stipend.

Most schools spend years refining their mission, their pedagogy, and their program. But when families arrive on campus for the first time and can't find the parking lot, the work doesn't matter.

Suzette Parlevliet and David Willows of Yellow Car return to the podcast to make the case that experience strategy is not a nice-to-have add-on to enrollment work. It is the enrollment work. In this conversation, David and Suzette introduce a framework that challenges how schools think about what families actually want.

Drawing on their Felt Experience Indicator data set, they walk through three universal patterns appearing across schools globally, including what they call "the end of the honeymoon," "the messy middle," and "life at the business end."

They also tackle the communication overload problem head-on, with practical first moves any leadership team can take this week. If you think your school's experience is strong because your mission is clear, this episode will push you to look again.

New for Moonshot Lab members: a premium version of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast! Members receive extended, members-only conversations through a private podcast feed, available exclusively inside Moonshot Lab.

1. The "Job to be Done" Framework: Families often care less about a formal mission statement and more about whether the school meets their immediate needs, such as helping their child make friends or preparing them for the next educational stage.
2. Satisfiers vs. Dissatisfiers: High-quality teachers and safe campuses are "dissatisfiers" (baseline requirements families assume are included). True differentiation comes from "satisfiers" such as strong alumni networks or distinctive programming.
3. The Honeymoon Dip: Data across many schools shows a consistent downward trend in the "felt experience" after the first year before it improves over time. This pattern holds true for students, parents, and employees.
4. The Communication Orchestra: Schools can fall into "paint-throwing" communications, where every department sends updates independently. A central "conductor" (often the communications director) can coordinate the flow to reduce parent overwhelm.
5. Experience vs. Logistics: The "felt experience" of a school often breaks down in the in-between moments, such as parking or signage, rather than in the classroom itself.

For many boards and heads, the word "merger" enters the conversation far too late, loaded with fear, myth, and misunderstanding.

In this episode, Kevin Ruth, Executive Director of NJAIS and a certified M&A advisor, pulls back the curtain on what mergers actually look like in the independent school world, and why the schools that navigate them best are the ones that start the conversation before they have to.

Kevin breaks down the full arc of a school merger: from the strategic rationale that must anchor every serious conversation to due diligence, legal counsel, board governance, faculty contracts, and the loaded question of who leads the merged entity.

This is not a theoretical conversation. It is a practical, honest look at what it takes to merge two institutions thoughtfully, and what goes wrong when schools wait too long, move too fast, or skip the hard internal conversations about identity, mission, and culture.

New for Moonshot Lab members: a premium version of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast! Members receive extended, members-only conversations through a private podcast feed, available exclusively inside Moonshot Lab.

1. Merger is not a rescue plan; it is a strategy. The most successful mergers happen between schools that are thinking proactively, not reactively. Waiting until you cannot make payroll changes your leverage, your options, and ultimately your outcome.
2. Shared services are often the on-ramp. A shared CFO or shared resource between two schools is not just a cost solution. It is a low-risk way to test cultural and operational compatibility before a formal merger conversation begins.
3. The strategic rationale has to come first. Before you sign a letter of intent, both institutions need a clear, agreed-upon answer to one question: what can we do together that we cannot do alone? Without that anchor, due diligence becomes expensive, and the deal often falls apart.
4. Mergers are the work of the board, not the head. Heads may start the conversation, but the moment a merger is on the table, it belongs to board leadership. Getting the board chair read in early is not optional; it is a fiduciary requirement.
5. Know yourself and be brutally honest. The schools that move through mergers most successfully are the ones willing to take off the mask and name their strengths and weaknesses clearly. Trying to mask weaknesses during due diligence almost always backfires.

Can a head of school truly lead a school without also leading a business?

In this episode, Gardner Barrier, founder of Gardner Barrier Consulting and former Head of School at Forsyth Country Day School, explores the intersection of pedagogical excellence and business discipline.

Drawing on experience as an MBA and adjunct finance professor, Gardner explains how “both-and” thinking helps a school remain a warm, mission-driven community while also operating as a focused, high-performing organization.

We dig into the practical work of building sophisticated data dashboards that spark strategic questions, not just report numbers. Gardner also shares what it took to navigate culture work while scaling enrollment by 50%, showing how financial sustainability powers a school’s mission.

From managing risk profiles to rethinking teacher compensation through endowed personal security funds, this conversation offers a blueprint for leaders who want to strengthen their business acumen without losing their educator’s heart.

New for Moonshot Lab members: a premium version of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast! Members receive extended, members-only conversations through a private podcast feed, available exclusively inside Moonshot Lab.

What You'll Learn from Gardner Barrier:

1. The "Both And" Framework: Successful schools reject the false choice between being a warm community and a rigorous business; they intentionally cultivate both to ensure long-term viability.
2. Dashboards as Culture Drivers: A high-quality data dashboard is not just for tracking enrollment; its primary value is driving targeted, strategic questions that align the board and leadership team.
3. Language Matters in Change Management: Terms like "disruption" can trigger anxiety in parents regarding their children's education; using "evolution" or "intentional change" helps stakeholders feel secure while moving forward.
4. Managing to Each Other’s Leadership: High-capacity teams thrive when the Head of School has the humility to defer to experts, such as a CFO or specialized staff, on their specific domains.
5. Investing in Product Over Cutting to Prosperity: Growth often requires upping a school's risk profile to ensure the "product"—the student experience—is exceptional before expecting enrollment gains.

Is your school treating marketing as a vital engine for growth, or as a discretionary line item that is easy to pause when budgets get tight?

In this episode, Penny Abrahams, founder of Penny Abrahams Consulting, makes the case for staying invested in your brand during periods of financial or enrollment pressure. Drawing on experience as a school administrator, trustee, and consultant, Penny explains how consistent marketing builds momentum over time, and why stepping back can make it harder to regain visibility and trust.

We explore the shift from "nice to have" to "must have" messaging, the value of qualitative data, and why the marketing director belongs at the leadership table. Penny also shares a powerful case study of a school that reversed a million-dollar deficit by committing to strategy when the outlook felt uncertain.

This conversation is a masterclass in shifting the narrative from the institution to the family, helping ensure your school remains a clear, confident choice in a changing economy.

New for Moonshot Lab members: a premium version of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast! Members receive extended, members-only conversations through a private podcast feed, available exclusively inside Moonshot Lab.

1. Marketing is an Insurance Policy, Not a Bill: Maintaining steady marketing when enrollment is down is like investing in preventive care, not waiting until something feels urgent.
2. The Value of Staying Visible: A consistent external presence helps families keep you top of mind, especially when they are weighing options and seeking reassurance.
3. Strategy vs. Tactics: When marketing capacity is stretched, teams often default to tactical execution. Protecting time for strategy supports stronger long-term results.
4. The "Better Than Free" Rule: In an uncertain economy, independent schools must communicate a value proposition that is not just better than a peer school, but $30,000 to $50,000 better than the free public option.
5. Families are the Heroes: Modern marketing works best when it shifts from "we have this program" to "your child is the hero," focusing on the student's journey and outcomes.

Is your school's schedule a strategic asset or a house of cards held together by band-aid solutions?

In this episode, Meera Shah and Rob MacDonald of Trey Education challenge the idea that scheduling is simply a technical jigsaw puzzle. They reveal how the master schedule expresses a school's values, determining whether initiatives like student wellness and interdisciplinary learning take root or wither.

We explore the adaptive approach to schedule redesign, moving beyond departmental conflicts to create a shared vision for student experience. Meera and Rob share their five-phase transformation process, explaining why stress testing a new model is essential and how saying no to certain programs can improve enrollment and faculty retention.

For leaders looking to close the gap between their brochure and campus reality, this conversation provides a roadmap.

New for Moonshot Lab members: a premium version of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast! Members receive extended, members-only conversations through a private podcast feed, available exclusively inside Moonshot Lab.

1. The Schedule as a Value Statement: Every campus minute delivers your strategy. If a value isn't in the schedule, it doesn't exist in practice.
2. Adaptive vs. Technical Solving: Effective redesign isn't just moving blocks around. It's change management that addresses sacred cows and cultural anxieties.
3. The "Less is More" Competitive Edge: In the arms race to add APs and clubs, schools that prioritize depth and wellness often see higher student and faculty satisfaction.
4. The Power of Live Piloting: Beta test a schedule by running a new 10-day rotation for two weeks to surface friction points before full rollout.
5. Closing the Mission Gap: A key warning sign is when a school invests in new facilities or initiatives that the current schedule actively prevents from succeeding.

International schools are growing fast. But this episode isn’t just about numbers. It’s about what that growth reveals.

In just two decades, the number of international schools worldwide has expanded from roughly 2,000 to around 14,000. What was once a niche expat market has become a sophisticated global system of private education, complete with tiered pricing models, private equity-backed school groups, and increasingly strong pathways to top universities.

James McDonald, Director of the International School of Brussels, joins the show to unpack what this shift means for US independent schools.

We explore why families now have compelling options closer to home, how international school leaders think about margin and scale, and why business fluency is becoming essential at the head of school level.

This is not a conversation about fear. It’s a conversation about clarity. If international schools are professionalizing at scale, what should US independent schools learn?

New for Moonshot Lab members: a premium version of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast! Members receive extended, members-only conversations through a private podcast feed, available exclusively inside Moonshot Lab.

1. The Competition Is Local and High Quality: Approximately 14,000 international schools now operate globally, giving families elite options in their home countries.
2. Private Equity Is Reshaping Education: 80% of recent international school growth comes from for-profit institutions, often managed by corporate groups with valuations in the billions.
3. The "Safety" Perception Gap: Geopolitical tensions and concerns about US visa stability have created real hesitation among families considering sending children to America.
4. Outcomes Are the Primary Currency: For wealthy international families, "return on investment" is measured by specific pathways to top-tier global universities.
5. The Professionalization of the Headship: Successful modern leaders must speak the language of business, understand P&L statements, and manage complex revenue projections.

What actually separates schools that adapt from schools that slowly slide backward? And why do so many well-run institutions struggle to see it happening in real time?

In this episode of The Independent School Moonshot Podcast, Ian Symmonds, founder of Ian Symmonds and Associates, unpacks his Strategy Continuum and what it reveals about how schools think, behave, and change.

Drawing on decades of work with more than 1,600 schools and colleges, Ian explains the difference between preservationist, adaptive, and disruptive organizations, and why most healthy schools actually live somewhere in between.

The conversation goes beyond theory. Ian explores how leadership, culture, governance, and external awareness shape a school's ability to move forward. He examines why schools often revert to familiar habits after periods of crisis, how boards unintentionally create strategic whiplash, and what leaders can do to diagnose their real position on the continuum. For heads, board members, and senior teams navigating enrollment pressure, rising costs, and constant uncertainty, this episode offers a practical lens for understanding what kind of school you are becoming.

New for Moonshot Lab members: a premium version of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast! Members receive extended, members-only conversations through a private podcast feed, available exclusively inside Moonshot Lab.

1. Most schools are not stuck; they are simply responding to a culture they no longer question. Behavior often reveals more than strategy documents. Paying attention to how people act tells you where your school really sits.
2. Adaptive schools look outward, preservationist schools look inward: The biggest dividing line is whether leaders take cues from the external world or rely solely on internal tradition for answers.
3. Leadership changes can move a school backward faster than anyone realizes: Without a clear, sustained institutional vision, frequent leadership turnover creates strategic drift.
4. The adaptive state is healthy because it is sustainable: Disruption can drive rapid change, but it burns people out. Adaptation balances progress with stability.
5. Culture, context, and change are inseparable: You cannot decide how much to change until you understand your culture and the environment you operate in.

What if generational tension in the workforce isn't a problem to solve but a resource we're failing to use well?

In this episode of The Independent School Moonshot Podcast, we sit down with Megan Gerhardt, professor at Miami University and co-author of Gentelligence, to unpack why so many leaders misunderstand generational dynamics at work.

Rather than framing schools as battlegrounds between Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z, Megan invites listeners to rethink age and experience as forms of diversity that can strengthen culture, innovation, and trust.

Through research, stories, and practical examples from classrooms and organizations, she offers a clear framework for leaders who want to move past stereotypes and build intergenerational teams that actually work.

For independent school leaders facing retention challenges, shifting workforce expectations, and rapid change, this conversation offers both clarity and hope.

1. Generational conflict is often misdiagnosed: What looks like entitlement, resistance, or disengagement is usually a mismatch in expectations, not a character flaw tied to age.
2. Needs are shared; norms are different: Across generations, people want respect, purpose, growth, and autonomy. What differs is how each generation learned to pursue those needs.
3. Stereotypes shut down opportunity: Treating generations as monoliths blocks trust, innovation, and honest conversation inside schools.
4. Trust enables learning in both directions: Psychological safety allows older and younger educators to ask for help, share ideas, and contribute fully without fear of judgment.
5. The best solutions are co-created: When leaders invite multiple generations into problem-solving, schools get better outcomes than any single perspective could produce.