What if the secret to enrollment growth isn’t doing more but doing it the right way?

In this candid and insightful episode, Brendan Schneider, founder of SchneiderB Media, a longtime advocate for school marketers, and author of School Marketing the Right Way, pulls back the curtain on why so many independent schools struggle to market effectively, how his new book aims to close the knowledge gap, and what building a marketing system means in 2025.

You will walk away with actionable ideas for refining your school’s marketing efforts, whether you’re a head of school, a one-person MarCom team, or an enrollment director trying to do more with less.

From SEO to print advertising and CRM strategy to the dangers of bloated inquiry forms, Brendan challenges school leaders to rethink what effective marketing truly looks like.

What You'll Learn from Brendan Schneider:

Marketing ≠ Communications: Brendan distinguishes marketing as recruitment and communications as retention—a distinction many schools still blur. Misunderstanding this leads to hiring the wrong people for the wrong jobs.

Tactics Don’t Work in Isolation: Too many schools expect magic from a single tactic—like Google ads—without supporting systems. Brendan emphasizes that strategy must be holistic to be effective.

Stop Asking for the World on Your Inquiry Form: Only ask for information you’ll use. An overloaded form feels like an application and scares prospects away. Prioritize a clean conversion path.

The Secret Sauce: Measurement + Iteration: Schools rarely measure results and iterate accordingly. Brendan argues that marketers must be allowed to fail, test, and learn to find what works.

Most Schools Overweight Social Media, Undervalue SEO: Organic reach on social platforms is nearly dead. Meanwhile, good SEO remains one of the best-underused opportunities for schools to get found.

Discussion Prompts

Do we differentiate between marketing and communications in our org chart and expectations?

Where are we investing time or money in marketing efforts without clear measurement?

How might we build a sustainable marketing system instead of relying on one-off tactics?

Are we creating space for our marketing team to experiment, fail, and learn, or are we playing it too safe?

What are the sacred cows in our marketing plan need to be challenged or eliminated?

Saying yes can feel like leadership, but what if your most powerful move is saying no?

In this must-listen episode, Julie Faulstich, founder and principal of Stony Creek Strategy and author of the Talking Out of School newsletter, explores why independent school leaders often struggle to say no and how that reluctance impacts trust, sustainability, and organizational focus.

Julie shares practical strategies for fostering a culture of intentional decision-making where well-placed nos create space for smarter yeses.

Along the way, the conversation branches into budget modeling, governance dynamics, board relationships, AI's implications for pedagogy, and how to avoid slow-moving nos that quietly derail plans.

It's a rich, candid discussion filled with actionable insights for school leaders navigating today's complex landscape.

What You'll Learn from Julie Faulstich:

"No" Builds Credibility: Leaders who overextend themselves dilute their effectiveness. A thoughtful "no" can increase trust and clarify priorities.

Burnout Is a Strategic Risk: The culture of doing everything, often fueled by a desire to please, contributes directly to burnout and organizational fragility.

Avoid the "Slow-Moving No": Saying yes when the data or resources don't support it leads to inevitable failure. Honest assessment upfront avoids disappointment later.

Governance Matters: Heads must foster productive, generative conversations with boards, resisting pressure to rubber-stamp every request or fear of being transparent.

Empowerment Through Boundaries: Leaders who say no strategically make space for others to step up, grow their leadership muscles, and contribute more meaningfully.

Discussion Prompts

When was the last time we said yes to something we shouldn't have? What did it cost us?

Is it safe for team members to say no here? Why or why not?

How do we balance strategic hope with realistic capacity?

What are we currently doing that doesn't align with our highest priorities?

How can we empower more team members by stepping back?

In this episode of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast, Susan Perry, Associate Head of School for Wellness and Belonging at Forsyth Country Day School and Senior Consultant at Expo Elevate, returns to explore the role of feedback in school leadership.

Drawing on research from the Harvard Negotiation Project and the Center for Creative Leadership, Susan unpacks why feedback is so difficult to give and receive and how school leaders can develop the skills, habits, and mindset to build a truly feedback-rich culture.

From the “situation-behavior-impact” model to the emotional hotspots that derail feedback, this episode offers practical tools and perspective shifts for anyone working to strengthen their leadership team and grow aspiring leaders.

Whether you’re just beginning your leadership journey or shaping a school-wide culture, this is a conversation that will leave you thinking and ready to act.

What You'll Learn from Susan Perry:

We’re Swimming in Feedback: Feedback is everywhere, from watches to workplace comments. Understanding how we receive and process it is key to becoming better leaders.

Affirmation Matters: Healthy feedback cultures rely on a 4:1 ratio of affirming to corrective feedback. The Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) model is a powerful tool to express this well.

Self-Awareness Is Two-Part: True self-awareness means understanding your intent and how your actions land with others.

Listening Is a Leadership Skill: The ability to stop talking and truly listen is foundational to building trust and effective teams.

Start with a Definition: Emerging leaders should define what leadership means to them and examine if their behaviors align with their values.

Discussion Prompts

How do we currently define feedback at our school, and is that definition helping or hindering our culture?

What are some moments when we’ve avoided giving feedback? Why?

Are we creating enough space for affirming feedback in our day-to-day leadership?

How can we better model receiving feedback without defensiveness?

What behaviors might we need to shift to better align with our leadership values?

In this episode, Mattingly Messina, Founder of Throughline and Moonshot Lab Advisors, breaks down the potentially misaligned relationship between boards and fundraising in independent schools.

Drawing from his experience as a trustee, former director of advancement, and consultant, he explains why the traditional board committee structure no longer serves schools and how it’s holding back strategic progress.

Mattingly offers a fresh framework for embedding philanthropy across all board priorities, shares how heads of school can manage up with confidence, and challenges schools to stop apologizing for fundraising.

If you’ve ever said, “My board doesn’t know how to fundraise,” this conversation is a must-listen.

What You'll Learn from Mattingly Messina:

Fundraising is a Board-Wide Responsibility: Advancement shouldn’t live in one siloed committee. Because funding affects everything, philanthropy must be embedded across all strategic focus areas.

Shift from Function to Focus: Instead of organizing board committees around operational functions like finance or development, structure them around strategic priorities. This creates cross-functional collaboration and deeper trustee engagement.

Stop Apologizing for Fundraising: Heads and leaders should confidently speak about fundraising. When it’s treated as essential and mission-driven, not uncomfortable or transactional, it changes how trustees show up.

Manage Up with Courage and Strategy: Heads often try to fix advancement quietly behind the scenes. Real change happens when they name the dysfunction, invite the board into a new paradigm, and align with the board chair on a shared vision.

Relationship Before Ask: Fundraising isn’t about the ask but the connection. When trustees speak authentically about why they believe in the school, that personal story is often more powerful than any solicitation.

Discussion Prompts

What assumptions do we hold about board members’ roles in fundraising, and where might those be outdated?

How does our current board committee structure support or hinder our strategic goals?

Where in our strategic plan is philanthropy required but not explicitly acknowledged?

How can we better prepare trustees to be effective ambassadors rather than reluctant fundraisers?

What’s one story a trustee could share that would inspire confidence and connection from a donor?

In this episode, John Farber, former head of school and current managing partner at RG175, shares hard-earned insights from conducting over 60 leadership searches.

He dives deep into the evolving expectations for heads of school, especially the growing demand for business acumen and strategic thinking.

From managing up to building strong board relationships and financial fluency, John explores what aspiring heads must understand to thrive. He also candidly reflects on why tenure has shortened and how boards can better support heads.

This is essential listening for anyone exploring or supporting the headship path.

• Business acumen is no longer optional. Heads must understand budgets, financial levers, and how to partner with their CFO and board.
• Managing up is a critical leadership skill. Strong board relationships enable heads to lead with confidence rather than fear.
• Most aspiring heads are underexposed to key responsibilities. Strategy, governance, and operational leadership are often learned on the job.
• Strategic clarity supports execution. When schools socialize their strategy and use it as a North Star, decisions are easier, and leadership alignment improves.
• Cultural fit is essential for success. Heads who align with the school’s culture have greater longevity and fulfillment.

• How does your board currently assess business acumen during head or leadership searches?
• What support structures exist for new heads to develop their financial and operational fluency?
• How can your school better educate faculty and staff about the board’s expectations of the head?
• What would building a truly supportive board-head relationship at your school look like?
• How can you help aspiring leaders at your school get real exposure to board dynamics, finance, and governance?

Auxiliary programs can be a school’s hidden powerhouse if built with intention.

In this episode of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast, St. Mark’s School’s Director of Operations, Kristi Jacobi, and Summer Programs and Auxiliary Revenue Collaborative's (SPARC) Senior Advisor, Bob Rojee, share how they transformed an empty summer campus into a dynamic, revenue-generating engine.

You’ll hear how they aligned strategy with mission, managed culture shifts, and grew camp enrollment from 49 campers to over 1,000 sessions in just two summers.

Whether starting an auxiliary from scratch or expanding what you have, their story offers invaluable lessons for any school leader ready to think iteratively and entrepreneurially.

• Prioritize with Purpose: Force-rank your goals before launching any auxiliary initiative to ensure strategic clarity and accountability.
• Invest in the Right Talent: Successful auxiliary programs need leaders who blend educational experience with business acumen.
• Market Demand Matters: Conduct thorough market analysis to uncover unmet demand, even in saturated markets.
• Be Mission-Adjacent: Programs must align with the school’s values while creating distinct experiences (e.g., brand-aligned but separate from full academic offerings)
• Manage Change Thoughtfully: Transparent communication and leadership endorsement are crucial to overcoming internal cultural resistance.

• How clear are our priorities when it comes to generating non-tuition revenue?
• What hidden assets (space, expertise, brand) could we leverage better?
• Where might cultural resistance exist on our campus, and how can we thoughtfully address it?
• How could auxiliary programs enhance our school’s community relationships?
• Are we investing in the right talent to grow entrepreneurial programs?

Is your school's "system" running on intention or tradition? Jason Kern, Senior Innovation & Operations Strategist at Mission & Data, unpacks the role of systems in driving strategic execution across independent schools.

Whether it's your strategic plan, enrollment, meetings, or sunset decisions, Jason shares why the path to progress starts with how we work, not just what we work on.

This is a must-listen for school leaders ready to shift from reactive to strategic.

What You'll Learn from Jason Kern:

Start with Systems, Not Just Strategy: Strategy often fails in schools, not because of poor planning, but because there is no system to carry it through. A strong operational framework helps schools execute on priorities, not just talk about them.

Operationalize, Don't Just Add: Schools excel at adding programs but struggle to retire outdated ones. Shift strategic initiatives into ongoing operations—or sunset them with clear rationale and community buy-in.

Design Meetings with Purpose: A school's priorities show up in how it spends time. Redesign leadership meetings to focus on strategy, not status updates. Use consent agendas and dashboards to keep people informed outside the room.

Adopt Agile Tools for Education: Tools like Scrum and School Operating Systems (SOS) offer proven ways to break big plans into manageable actions, bringing business discipline to school leadership.

Use Data to Inform, Not Just Report: Systems aren't just about workflows—they're about insights. Jason urges schools to use data to drive decisions, not just to reflect on them after the fact.

Discussion Prompts

What systems in our school are implicit rather than intentionally designed?

How do we know if our strategic plan is influencing day-to-day work?

How do we currently transition initiatives from strategic to operational?

Who is responsible for major priorities, and is that clear to everyone?

What’s one recurring meeting we could redesign to be more effective?

You know that moment when it all clicks? When you finally understand how one decision leads to the next-why does a school that seemed stuck suddenly take off?

That's this episode.

David Lee, Head of Daycroft School, shares the story of how his team rebuilt trust, grew community, and nearly doubled enrollment (a 99% increase) in just five years.

From personal touches in the admissions process to bold, calculated risks, this is a behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to turn a school around.

And the impact?

Tuition now covers nearly all operating costs, freeing the school to grow auxiliary revenue and reinvest in facilities, benefits, and programs that make the community even stronger.

This episode is a must-listen if you're trying to unlock sustainable growth.

• Enrollment is everyone's job, but the head must lead. David joined every tour, followed up with families, and helped close enrollment conversations. His hands-on approach set the tone for success.
• Community creates Velcro. Focusing on building relationships between families, faculty, and students created a sticky environment where people wanted to stay.
• Hiring with purpose builds culture. Beyond credentials, David recruited educators with unique passions and a team-first mindset.
• Auxiliary programs are more than add-ons. Daycroft's summer camp and after-school enrichment generate 7% of annual revenue and extend the school's brand and culture.
• Bold decisions pay off. Opening during the pandemic and hiring ahead of enrollment were high-risk, high-reward moves that catalyzed growth.

• What is the head’s current role in the admissions process, and should that change?
• How might we create more “Velcro” between families at our school?
• What qualities do we prioritize when hiring teachers? Do we include community-building skills?
• Are we maximizing the potential of auxiliary programming?
• When was the last time we made a bold enrollment decision? What did we learn?

What makes teachers stay in your school?

In this episode, Dr. Dennis Chapman shares the findings from his PhD dissertation, which explored teacher retention through the lens of servant leadership. Drawing on data from 2,000 independent school educators, Dennis reveals the seven leadership traits that matter most—and how school heads can lead with authenticity, trust, and purpose.

At The Village School of Naples, where Dennis serves as Head of School, this approach isn’t just academic—it’s real. The school achieved a 97% teacher retention rate last year, underscoring how powerful values-driven leadership can be in practice.

Whether you’re an aspiring leader or a seasoned head of school, this conversation will reshape how you think about faculty culture and retention.

What You'll Learn from Dr. Dennis Chapman:

• Servant Leadership Matters – Teachers who feel seen, valued, and trusted by their head of school are significantly more likely to stay, regardless of compensation.
• The “7 C’s” of Retention – Communication, Culture of Appreciation, Compassion, Connection, Cultivating Trust, Compensation, and Coaching the Admin Team emerged as consistent themes among satisfied faculty.
• Compensation Is Not Always King – Teachers committed to their schools rated pay as less important, while those looking to leave ranked it highest.
• Authenticity Over Performance – Leaders who “perform” appreciation or visibility without sincerity risk damaging trust rather than building it.
• Early Feedback Prevents Surprises – Pulse surveys, transparent compensation models, and open conversations help reduce last-minute departures.

Discussion Prompts

• Which of the “7 C’s” of servant leadership—Communication, Culture of Appreciation, Compassion, Connection, Cultivating Trust, Compensation, and Coaching the Admin Team—are we currently strong in, and which ones need more focus?
• How does our current compensation structure support or hinder faculty retention?
• In what ways are we showing appreciation to our teachers consistently? Are those efforts meaningful and authentic?
• What systems do we have to gather honest faculty feedback, and how effectively are we acting on it?
• How transparent are we with our communication around key decisions? Where could we be more open or inclusive?
• How are we developing our division heads and admin team to embody servant leadership in their daily work?

What if your school's success depended on adopting a true growth mindset?

In this episode of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast, Trace Urdan, Managing Director and education analyst at Tyton Partners, unpacks the sobering realities shaking up higher education and how independent schools can learn from them.

Inspired by his Substack article "Surviving the Higher Ed Apocalypse," this conversation explores five growth models institutions can use to navigate demographic shifts, tuition pressures, and changing family expectations.

Whether you're a head of school, board member, or aspiring leader, this episode offers practical insights for the road ahead.

• The Tuition Trap is Real: Schools that try to appear elite by raising prices often fall into a cycle of unsustainable discounting.
• Demographics Are Destiny: A declining population of affluent 18-year-olds is already reshaping education demand and independent schools are not immune.
• Differentiation is a Growth Strategy: Trace outlines five models (e.g., the Harvard, Juilliard, and Northeastern models) that schools can adopt to carve out a distinct niche.
• Shared Understanding Powers Change: The most crucial step school leaders can take is building a shared strategic view with their boards and leadership teams.
• Mission Can Fuel Growth: Schools can live their mission in new ways to unlock revenue if they're willing to break from tradition.

• What pressures from the higher ed world are already in our school?
• Which of the five models (Harvard, Juilliard, Northeastern, SNHU, Western Governors) feels closest to our current approach?
• How aligned are our board and leadership team on the core challenges we face?
• What new revenue streams allow us to live our mission in different ways?
• Are we pricing to reflect quality or pricing to stay competitive? What are the implications?
• What would it take for us to adopt a genuinely growth-oriented mindset?