Can You Recite Your School's Mission Statement?

Hello:

I’m eagerly waiting for my new Dell desktop to arrive today. I’m moving from 2 GB RAM to 12 GB and hoping to appreciate the 23 inch monitor that comes with it. While I’m waiting for my new computer (come on UPS), Vancouver is being pounded by ridiculous rain and wind storms (I’m keeping an eye out my window for Dorothy and Toto). That being said, I enjoy going down to my cabin in Pt. Roberts and watching the big storms and surf pound the beaches, while taking in the sounds and scents of the ocean. A few years back I would be out there in my Hobby Cat or wind surfer catching the big winds…

Today I want to share some final thoughts in the eNewsletter on effective board governance.

One important element to consider is the development, implementation, and monitoring of your organization’s mission. I was online and found a fantastic video on how NOT to develop your school’s mission statement. Please click here to view the video.

Too many times boards write a mission statement that is like a novel; they throw everything into it but the kitchen sink and end up with a bunch of words that mean nothing to the organization. My challenge is that it should be one sentence, able to fit onto the front of a t-shirt, and every member of your community should be able to memorize and recite it. Can you do that at your school?

Read on to find out more about writing a great mission statement.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group Inc.

>> TWITTER ->> Receive our updates.

P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

IN THIS ISSUE

1. In The News

2. Focus On Our Key Services

3. Can You Recite Your School's Mission Statement?

4. Products At Our Online Store

1. IN THE NEWS

>> RESEARCHERS PROBE PAY INCENTIVES FOR TEACHERS

While much of the national debate over performance incentives for teachers has centered on bonuses based on student test scores, a new book suggests that such incentives come in all shapes and sizes, and offers some new research on little-studied aspects of those strategies.

2. FOCUS ON OUR KEY SERVICES

(A) STARTING A SCHOOL

Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression. That’s why you need a firm with experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally.

(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING

We can lead the development of your school’s Strategic Plan, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration for school improvement.

(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS

Do you want your school to have the best board possible? Our full-day governance workshop (in combination with our informative online self-assessment survey) will fine-tune your board’s performance and focus priorities.

(D) SCHOOL EVALUATIONS

A school review is critical to knowing if you’re heading in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.” Click on the following link for more info:

(E) BUYING AND SELLING SCHOOLS

HEG and our certified Brokerage Associates assist buyers/sellers with the purchase and sale of for-profit Private K-12 Schools, Post Secondary Institutions, and Career Colleges in Canada, United States, and Internationally. HEG and our Licensed Brokers are experienced in acquisitions, mergers, and advising established schools.

3. CAN YOU RECITE YOUR SCHOOL'S MISSION STATEMENT?

Effective boards are missions focused. Great boards uphold and articulate a compelling mission-vision, and ensure congruence between strategy, values, and operations of the school. Competent directors focus on being:

• Convincing mission statement that allows them to keep eye on the target
• Aspirational and inspirational having a mission provides call to action that motivates staff and board and guides decisions
• Decisions are based on a clear understanding of your needs and you don’t operate in a vacuum
• As custodians of the mission, you’ve courage to refocus mission when needed
• You articulate your organization’s values and can translate them into action, and inspire staff by serving as role models

Your mission statement should answer the following questions:

• WHY you exist and WHY you’re committed to supporting that existence
• WHO you serve
• WHAT you provide, and
• HOW you serve them.

On the other hand, your vision statement should do the following:

• It answers WHERE you want your school to be in 5 or more years.
• Compelling image of the desired future that describes what the school should look like as it successfully implements the plan & achieves its potential

Your vision is the product and the mission is the process.

My litmus test for a mission statement is the following checklist:

• Does it state the purpose of your organization?
• Is it broad enough that everyone can see how they can contribute?
• Is it rarely changing?
• Can it survive leadership changes?
• Will it make sense to the average citizen who sees it displayed on your walls?

How did you score? Your mission has to inspire your staff and board, and direct your purpose for existing. Don’t treat it like some sort of cliché; take it serious and you’ll have a better board and school.

BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOP

To help your board move from good to great, we can provide our one-day board governance workshop with your school’s trustees. Our thoughtful workshop provides feedback to analyze and develop a clear set of strategies to guide your school’s leadership with the ongoing development of your school and governance.

The Board Governance Workshop and Survey refocuses Trustees on the Critical Elements of Effective Board Performance. This includes a comprehensive 360° online “Board Performance Self-Assessment Survey” based on years of research that assesses your board’s performance and a one day workshop to identify and resolve critical governance issues, review best practices, and focus areas for board development. This includes:

1. Presentation of governance best practices for school trustees.
2. Participation in hands-on case scenarios that highlight effective board practices.
3. Building a profile of your board’s performance gap based on confidential responses to the online survey and identifying areas that need immediate improvement (the survey is implemented as part of the school evaluation process).
4. Facilitation of a one-day workshop that assists the board in developing strategies and action plans to close your performance gap for the governance of leadership of the school.
5. As part of the process, the Board members candidly discuss and reach consensus on issues surrounding the performance of your board and lay the groundwork for long-term improvement.

You receive a follow-up “Summative Board Performance Report” providing a comprehensive overview of the board’s survey results, issues, and a plan of action for improvement.

Please click on the following here for more info.

To find out more about our firm’s board governance workshops, or learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail.

4. ONLINE STORE

Here are 2 popular Toolkits to help you to either start your own school or develop your own strategic plan, step-by-step.

(1). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)

Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook and Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD’s. It’s all here to help you develop your own plan.

(2). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)

Are you still struggling with starting your school? Four experienced school leaders share how they started their own school from the ground up. You’ll also receive our bonus CD on developing your strategic plan.

To your success,

Douglas Halladay

President

How Effective Are Your Board Committees?

Hello,

I had an early meeting today in the west-end of Vancouver near English Bay. After the meeting I took advantage of the location on English Bay and went for a stroll along the sea wall at the entrance to Stanley Park (and a stop at Starbucks). I’ve traveled all over the world, and nothing beats this location with views of our north shore mountains that reach right down to the edge of the ocean, and the winter air getting ready for another season of snow on our local ski hills (and the Olympics). Please click here to check out the photo of my stroll.

Today I’m going to continue sharing tips in the eNewsletter below about how to make your board governance more effective. Your board has three duties:

1. Duty of Care: Using your best judgment
2. Duty of Loyalty: Putting your personal and professional interests aside for the good of the school
3. Duty of Obedience: Being true to the organization’s mission

Today, I want to share how your board can operate more effectively through the use your board committees. This is relevant to those starting a new school as well as established public and private schools. The purpose of your committees is to:

• Accomplish the work needed to be done between board meetings
• Where the majority of board’s work is takes place; they’re the workhorses
• Enable sharing of time & talent, & provide for work & evaluation
• Debate & make recommendations
• Oversee the implementation of the board’s annual goals from the strategic plan
  

Does your board have committees that are focused on the implementation of your strategic plan or do you have the same old committees no matter what year it is? If so, you need to read on for more insight.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President
Halladay Education Group Inc.

>> TWITTER ->> Receive our updates by clicking here.

P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

IN THIS ISSUE

1. In The News

2. Focus On Our Key Services

3. More Tips On Better Board Governance

4. Products At Our Online Store

1. IN THE NEWS

>> PRIVATE SCHOOLS CHARTED A CONSERVATIVE FISCAL COURSE
Prep Schools Face Cuts in Student Aid confirms what most of us have suspected for some time now. Private school endowments have taken a hit in these tough economic times ...

2. FOCUS ON OUR KEY SERVICES

(A) STARTING A SCHOOL
Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression. That’s why you need a firm with experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally.

(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING
We can lead the development of your school’s Strategic Plan, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration for school improvement.

(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS
Do you want your school to have the best board possible? Our full-day governance workshop (in combination with our informative online self-assessment survey) will fine-tune your board’s performance and focus priorities.

(D) SCHOOL EVALUATIONS
A school review is critical to knowing if you’re heading in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.”

(E) BUYING AND SELLING SCHOOLS
HEG and our certified Brokerage Associates assist buyers/sellers with the purchase and sale of for-profit Private K-12 Schools, Post Secondary Institutions, and Career Colleges in Canada, United States, and Internationally. HEG and our Licensed Brokers are experienced in acquisitions, mergers, and advising established schools.

3. TIPS ON BETTER BOARD GOVERNANCE

It’s critical that you’ve effective committees on your board. This is where all the work needs to be done; not at the board meetings. Effective committees are charged by their agenda that is aligned with the monitoring and implementation of your board’s annual strategic goals (based on your 5-year strategic plan…you have one don’t you?). The Chair and Executive Committee determine the number of committees and membership. The structure should include:

• Size: Should be large enough to ensure critical mass and small enough to ensure participation
• Staffing: May have 1 staff member to serve as secretary & liaison; staff provide info, but don’t make decisions
• Membership: Can have non-board members and use it as a testing ground for potential board members
• Duration: They may either be permanent or temporary, but should be based on your strategic needs
• Charges: Have 1 for each committee and job descriptions for committee members and chair
  

Tips about forming your board committees:

• Document responsibilities, guidelines, annual goals, and review/revise as needed
• Appoint an effective chairperson and members who support and complement fellow members
• Document job descriptions for each member, expectations, and tasks
• Make timely reports
• Be goal-driven and action oriented
  

Please re-read the last bullet again. Be “goal drive” and “action oriented.” Think about it; your committee’s purpose should be based on the delivery of your annual strategic goals, not meeting just for the purpose of meeting.

BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOP

To help your board move from good to great, we can provide our one-day board governance workshop with your school’s trustees. Our thoughtful workshop provides feedback to analyze and develop a clear set of strategies to guide your school’s leadership with the ongoing development of your school and governance.

The Board Governance Workshop and Survey refocuses Trustees on the Critical Elements of Effective Board Performance. This includes a comprehensive 360° online “Board Performance Self-Assessment Survey” based on years of research that assesses your board’s performance and a one day workshop to identify and resolve critical governance issues, review best practices, and focus areas for board development. This includes:

1. Presentation of governance best practices for school trustees.
2. Participation in hands-on case scenarios that highlight effective board practices.
3. Building a profile of your board’s performance gap based on confidential responses to the online survey and identifying areas that need immediate improvement (the survey is implemented as part of the school evaluation process).
4. Facilitation of a one-day workshop that assists the board in developing strategies and action plans to close your performance gap for the governance of leadership of the school.
5. As part of the process, the Board members candidly discuss and reach consensus on issues surrounding the performance of your board and lay the groundwork for long-term improvement.
   

You receive a follow-up “Summative Board Performance Report” providing a comprehensive overview of the board’s survey results, issues, and a plan of action for improvement.

To find out more about our firm’s board governance workshops, or learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail.

4. ONLINE STORE

Here are 2 popular Toolkits to help you to either start your own school or develop your own strategic plan, step-by-step.

(1). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)
Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook and Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD’s. It’s all here to help you develop your own plan.

(2). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)
Are you still struggling with starting your school? Four experienced school leaders share how they started their own school from the ground up. You’ll also receive our bonus CD on developing your strategic plan.


To your success,

Douglas Halladay
President

Halladay Education Group Inc.

What Makes A Great School Board?

Hello:

I’m sending today’s eNewsletter from the Incheon Airport in Korea waiting to fly home to Vancouver. I’m returning from my trip to Ulaanbaatar (UB), Mongolia where I provided a school evaluation and board governance workshop for a K-12 International School and then stopped in Seoul to visit my good friend at Seoul International School (great school by the way). UB was an amazing experience; both the weather and the landscape. There is so much happening there with so many opportunities for growth; and the school I worked with recognizes this.

I enjoy the opportunity to visit other schools to see how they ‘package’ their educational program to meet the needs of their community. There are so many ways educators can connect with students and parents and allow them to reach their own personal levels of excellence.

I also like working with school boards to help them improve the mechanics of their school leadership. Research indicates that “great” schools have “great” boards. Is your board functioning at its peak ability? Perhaps you’d like me to provide a great one-day workshop on moving your board from “good” to “great.”

Today I want to continue in our eNewsletter below sharing more tips on more effective private school board governance.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group Inc.

>> TWITTER ->> Receive our updates by clicking here.

P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

IN THIS ISSUE

1. In The News

2. Focus On Our Key Services

3. More Tips On Better Board Governance

4. Products At Our Online Store

1. IN THE NEWS

>> USFK MORE POSITIVE ON SCHOOL PLAN WITH KOREA

Korea Times - As for the pending International School Songdo, which will be the first educational institute in the Incheon Free Economy Zone, Ahn said the ministry is…

2. FOCUS ON OUR KEY SERVICES

(A) STARTING A SCHOOL

Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression. That’s why you need a firm with experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally.

(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING

We can lead the development of your school’s Strategic Plan, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration for school improvement.

(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS

Do you want your school to have the best board possible? Our full-day governance workshop (in combination with our informative online self-assessment survey) will fine-tune your board’s performance and focus priorities.

(D) SCHOOL EVALUATIONS

A school review is critical to knowing if you’re heading in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.”

(E) BUYING AND SELLING SCHOOLS

HEG and our certified Brokerage Associates assist buyers and sellers with the purchase and sale of for-profit Private K-12 Schools, Post Secondary Institutions, Career Colleges, and Schools throughout Canada, United States, and Internationally. HEG and our Professional Licensed Brokers are experienced in acquisitions, mergers, and advising established schools, and have a Broker relationship with other Brokers internationally who assist us to locate and sell Schools.

3. TIPS ON BETTER BOARD GOVERNANCE

Will Rodgers said “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” I’m a big believer in both great board governance and the continuous board education.

Do you have a “great” board? You can see it…exceptional boards stand out. But what makes them tick…what’s their secret sauce? Great boards have a set of common attributes that clearly separates them from others. In my board governance workshop I share with you the 12 pillars of “great” boards and help you determine where you’re at now and develop an action plan to move your forward.

Great boards must “govern more” and “manage less.” You need to focus on:

• Develop a strategic plan & follow it
• Link current agenda to strategic agenda
• Monitor the success of the school’s initiatives
• Develop clear expectations & plan of action for Trustees
• Direct CEO to prepare strategically
• Structure meetings to policy & strategy
• Assess the performance of the board annually
• Focus on policy objectives, organizational strategy, & relationship between budgets & priorities

Does your board experience any of the following:

• Trustee behavior that’s unproductive & misaligned with mission
• Board agenda controlled by crisis rather than vision
• Lack of a plan or goals that results in no board agenda, committee goals, or operational plan
• Board committees that exist only because they’ve always been there, not because they’re needed
• No link between budget, programs, or strategic plan
• Blurring of boundaries & channels between roles of the Board & Administration
• Board commitment is greater than trustees would like it to be & become too taxing & stressful
• Inability to attract or keep trustees
• Poor turn-out at board meetings and AGM’s

Your board needs to understand not only their role but how to strategically structure their performance to maximize their strengths and direct your Head of School and board committees in unison. Great boards uphold & articulate a compelling mission-vision, & ensure congruence between strategy, values, & operations. Great boards engage in strategic thinking that focuses the direction of the organization & uses their strategic plan to drive decision making.

Remember the following adages from Harvey MacKay:

A goal is just a dream with a deadline

A goal will remain a dream unless you create & execute a plan of action to accomplish it…

Every goal that gets accomplished has a plan behind it.”

To find out more about our firm’s private school board governance workshops, or learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail.

4. ONLINE STORE

Here are 2 popular Toolkits to help you to either start your own school or develop your own strategic plan, step-by-step.

(1). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)

Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook and Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD’s. It’s all here to help you develop your own plan.

(2). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)

Are you still struggling with starting your school? Four experienced school leaders share how they started their own school from the ground up. You’ll also receive our bonus CD on developing your strategic plan.

To your success,

Douglas Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group Inc

Which Strategic Planning Approach Is Right For Your School?

Hello:

I’m pleased to share with you that HEG’s Inner Circle Newsletter membership cracked the 3,000 mark yesterday. Thank you for your continued interest and support in our eNewsletter. We now reach out to 32 different countries, connecting with thousands of teachers, builders, founders, educators, and school leaders.

I was reading Don Southerton’s blog today on Korea and watched a great video developed by Dr. Nelson, Head of International School Songdo. Our firm was fortunate enough to work with Dr. Nelson and the staff of Gale International Korea to support the development of their state-of-the-art K-12 International School in the new planned city of Songdo, Korea. In his video, Dr. Nelson shares their educational vision, which is also cutting edge. If you’d like to watch the video online, click here.

Do you have a vision for your school? More importantly does it drive everything you do at your school? The staff you hire, the facilities and resources you acquire, the student’s you accept? Dr. Nelson recognizes that at his new school they need to set a vision for the future of learning at their school, which drives everything they do. What's more, it match their mission and core values. Does your school’s strategic plan do this? Do you have a plan for your school’s future that you can operationalize annually with your staff and board to ensure that your direction is set and everyone is on the same page?

In our Strategic Planning Toolkit, which is available at our Online Store, we define the Vision Statement and Strategic Plan as follows:

“In simplest terms, an organization undertakes strategic planning to reaffirm or modify its mission - why it exists, what its purpose is, and what it now does - and to agree on its vision - what it wants to be and do in the coming years. The purpose is not to decide what should be done in the future but to decide what should be done now to make desired things happen in an uncertain future.”

Our firm’s strategic planning web pages receive close to 1,000 visitors a month. The question most visitors ask is what type of strategic planning process fits their school or non-profit needs and their budget. What I’ve done is created an overview document that outlines three different planning approaches HEG can apply to your organization to fit your price point, and still deliver a quality strategic plan. Our three levels are titled:

1). Fast-Track;
2). Streamlined; and
3). Comprehensive.

If you’d like to read the overview for each of our strategic planning approaches, click here.

Today I want to continue in our eNewsletter below sharing more tips on the strategic planning process.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President
Halladay Education Group Inc.

Receive our updates by signing on @ www.twitter.com/halladay


P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

IN THIS ISSUE

1. In The News

2. Focus On Our Key Services

3. More Tips On Strategic Planning

4. Products At Our Online Store

1. IN THE NEW

>> STATE SUSPENDS LICENSE FROM CENTRAL OREGON SCHOOL FOR TROUBLED TEENS
OregonLive.com: By Michelle Cole, The Oregonian State officials have told parents to remove their children from a central Oregon boarding school after investigators found …

2. FOCUS ON OUR KEY SERVICES

(A) STARTING A SCHOOL
Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression. That’s why you need a firm with experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally.

(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING
We can lead the development of your school’s Strategic Plan, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration for school improvement.

(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS
Do you want your school to have the best board possible? Our full-day governance workshop (in combination with our informative online self-assessment survey) will fine-tune your board’s performance and focus priorities.

(D) SCHOOL EVALUATIONS
A school review is critical to knowing if you’re heading in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.”

(E) BUYING AND SELLING SCHOOLS
HEG and our certified Brokerage Associates assist buyers and sellers with the purchase and sale of for-profit Private K-12 Schools, Post Secondary Institutions, Career Colleges, and Schools throughout Canada, United States, and Internationally. HEG and our Professional Licensed Brokers are experienced in acquisitions, mergers, and advising established schools, and have a Broker relationship with other Brokers internationally who assist us to locate and sell Schools.

3. TIPS ON STRATEGIC PLANNING – FROM OUR TOOLKIT

The strategic planning process is disciplined and requires a sequence and pattern to keep it focused, productive, and effective. The process raises a progression of questions that helps planners examine, test assumptions, gather and incorporate information about the present, and anticipate the environment in which the organization will be working in the future. The process is about fundamental decisions and actions since choices need to be made in order to answer the sequence of questions below. The plan is ultimately no more and no less than a set of questions and answers about:

• Where are you now?
• Where do you want to be?
• How do you get there?
• How do you measure your progress and know you’ve gotten there?
  

I realize that strategic planning will consume your resources; a precious commodity for any organization. As a process that defines the critical direction and priorities of your organization, it can sometimes be an overwhelming and daunting task. Despite the overpowering nature of the process, the benefits of planning will far outweigh the hardships, so carry on reading.

What Can Strategic Planning Accomplish?

There are many benefits to be gained from the actual planning process, as well as from the final planning document. The very activities that staff and boards conduct as part of the planning process empower them to be more effective in their roles; more informed leaders and decision makers. In addition, the final planning document becomes a tool that can be used to effectively and efficiently manage the organization’s resources and decision making; at all levels.

As you begin the process of educating your organization on the merits of strategic planning, here are a few nuggets:

• Determines the school’s priorities
• Strengthens Head-Board partnership
• Defines measurements of success and accountability
• Forms the basis for yearly Head-Board evaluation and criteria
• Builds energy and momentum
• Broadens participation, creating a shared vision and sense of ownership
• Builds stronger programs and energizes them
• Improves finances and projections
• Analyzes critical issues (Finance, Enrollment, Fundraising, Human resources, Academic programs, Campus and grounds
• Focuses on excellence
• Enhances constituent investment and a common language for communication
  

To find out more about our firm’s strategic planning services and which approach suits your school or non-profit, or learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail.

You can read more about our approach and testimonials at by clicking here.

Or go to our Online Store and invest in our Strategic Planning Toolkit.

4. ONLINE STORE

Here are 2 popular Toolkits to help you to either start your own school or develop your own strategic plan, step-by-step.

(1). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)
Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook and Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD’s. It’s all here to help you develop your own plan

(2). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)
Are you still struggling with starting your school? Four experienced school leaders share how they started their own school from the ground up. You’ll also receive our bonus CD on developing your strategic plan.

To your success,

Douglas Halladay
President
Halladay Education Group Inc.

How To Create A Surge In Your Private School Marketing Funnel

Hello:

I’m recovering today from my “men’s only” yoga (torture) class last night. I’m rediscovering what the word “flexibility” means. Please understand that I try to place my mat at the back of the class to keep a low profile, however that darn “downward dog” position doesn’t let me hide. We go through exercises designed for former Eastern European gymnasts and Cirque du Soleil performers, but I persevere (low lighting has its benefits) Well, what doesn’t kill you…

Before I jump into today’s eNewsletter I wanted to share with you an incredible customer experience I had last week when buying a new desktop computer for our firm. We deal with a lot of vendors when developing new schools and I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. Last week I decided to order another computer and called Dell Canada to see what they’d offer in the way of a top notch desktop and pricing. I was pleasantly surprised by the call I had with Dell Canada rep’ Keith Ellis. He knew his computer products, what we needed, and the price he gave blew away anyone else. I was so impressed that I told him I’d share his name with you in case your school or business was looking for new computer technology and wanted a competitive prices, quality service, and products. Here’s my free plug for Keith:

Keith Ellis| Account Manager

Dell Canada Inc.

Office Direct Line: 416.758.3667

Toll Free 1.800.387.5757 ext.3667

keith_ellis@dell.com

Now down to business. Today I wanted to write you a quick eNewsletter on a private school marketing strategy that I started using about 10 years ago, and I just noticed in our local paper an ad by a school that reminded me again of its value. If done right, it can create a surge in your marketing funnel and not cost you much to do it. Click here to have a look at this link and then read more below.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group

Click here to receive our updates.

P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

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IN THIS ISSUE

================================

1. Focus On Our Key Services

2. Is Your Marketing and Admissions System Working?

3. Products At Our Online Store

==================================

1. FOCUS ON OUR KEY SERVICES

==================================

(A) STARTING FORMATION

Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression. That’s why you need a firm with experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally.

(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING

We can lead the development of your school’s Strategic Plan, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration for school improvement.

(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS

Do you want your school to have the best board possible? Our full-day governance workshop (in combination with our informative online self-assessment survey) will fine-tune your board’s performance and focus priorities.

(D) SCHOOL EVALUATIONS

A school review is critical to knowing if you’re heading in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.”

(E) BUYING AND SELLING SCHOOLS

HEG and our certified Brokerage Associates assist buyers and sellers with the purchase and sale of for-profit Private K-12 Schools, Post Secondary Institutions, Career Colleges, and Schools throughout Canada, United States, and Internationally. HEG and our Professional Licensed Brokers are experienced in acquisitions, mergers, and advising established schools, and have a Broker relationship with other Brokers internationally who assist us to locate and sell Schools.

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2. HOW TO CREATE A SURGE IN YOUR ADMISSIONS FUNNEL

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This school has full enrollment and extremely altruistic intent to attract above calibre students to their school, who otherwise may not be able to afford it. However what if you could build on this marketing strategy to create a surge in your admissions funnel?

The strategy I’m referring is your ability to generate “new” leads for potential enrollment at your private school by placing ads like this whereby you seek a student in a specific grade based on their academic merit. In many cases, schools are not fully enrolled, so an empty desk doesn’t cost you any more, and you end up with the following:

• A top-notch academic student to bump up your standardized testing scores (which helps your marketing again);
• A surge in families that are interested in your programs who may now have thought of enrolling at your school before, but are now thinking of it;
• An increase in your marketing funnel database that you can reach out to now and in the future; and
• Enhanced public perception of your school’s brand in your marketplace.

This strategy isn’t for every school, but it works and can jump start your private school marketing campaign.

To find out more about our firm’s marketing and admissions services, or learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail.

=====================================

4. ONLINE STORE

=====================================

Here are are 2 popular Toolkits to help you to either start your own school or develop your own strategic plan, step-by-step.

(1). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)

Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook and Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD’s. It’s all here to help you develop your own plan.

(2). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)

Are you still struggling with starting your school? Four experienced school leaders share how they started their own school from the ground up. You’ll also receive our bonus CD on developing your strategic plan.

=======================================================

To your success,

Douglas Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group Inc.

P: 604.868.0002 / F: 868.472.8737 / Email: info@halladayeducationgroup.com

www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

Do You Want To Buy Or Sell A School?

Hello:

HEG is pleased to announce that we’ve added an additional service, “Buying and Selling Private Schools.” We’ve been engaged in the past by clients on an as needed basis to assist them with acquiring post secondary institutions in Canada and K-12 private schools in the USA and Internationally. Now we want to share this unique service to you.

Are You Looking At Selling Your K-12 Private School or Career College? Are you Interested in Buying a Career School or Post Secondary Institution?

There’s considerable interest in K-12 Private Schools, Language Schools, Colleges, and Career Schools by investors, individuals, and school owners. Education has truly earned itself a position as a rapid growth, international business.

Halladay Education Group and our certified Brokerage Associates can assist buyers and sellers in the purchase and sale of for-profit Private K-12 Schools, Post Secondary Institutions, Career Colleges, and Schools throughout Canada, United States, and Internationally.

HEG and our Professional Licensed Brokers are skilled in acquisitions, mergers, and advising established schools, and have a Broker relationship with other Brokers internationally who assist us to locate and sell Schools.

HEG’s Associates can assist owners and prospective owners make informed and educated decisions about the sale and purchase of a School. We will work with you, to sell or buy the School you want and we assist you with all parts of the sale and purchase process.

Are You Thinking of Selling Your School?

Our services are tailored and designed to directly work with K-12 Schools, Post Secondary Institutions, Language Schools, and Career College owners as a representative in the brokerage and sale of your school to qualified third party buyers.

Our process allows the sale to be handled with strict confidentiality and minimum intrusion into the schools operation. We assist with the transfer of property, investment analysis, negotiation, and closing of the transaction.

HEG and our Brokerage Associates possess a thorough knowledge and understanding of the issues faced by owners in these types of transactions. By leveraging our broad industry knowledge and expertise, our clients are better prepared to navigate through the complexity of listing, marketing, and selling your school to obtain the best possible offer when it is time to sell.
HEG and Associates follow a unique and proven approach that offers school owners the most comprehensive marketing tools and resources, along with an extensive network of potential buyers.

Are You Thinking of Buying a School?

Whether you are an individual, private buyer, or represent an investment group that is considering buying a school, college, or university, we can support you. Our team can work with you to define your acquisition objectives and financial requirements to potential sellers. Our in-depth search process and network lets you know about schools that are actively on the market and search for K-12 schools, career schools, colleges, and other post secondary institutions that meet your specifications.

When we are engaged as a buyer's representative we assist the buyer in the analysis, negotiations, due diligence, and closing details necessary to buying the school. In addition, we can support in the transition and operation for buyers who are new to the K-12 and/or post secondary career school sector. This includes assistance in change of ownership, continuity, compliance, licensing, accreditation, management, marketing, or other school operation and management services.

Your Next Step

To find out more about buying, selling, merging, or relocating, K-12 private schools, post secondary institutions, colleges, or any educational business, or finding out what your school could be worth in today’s marketplace, please contact HEG by phone or email. All information submitted will be held in the strictest confidence.

To your success,

Douglas Halladay, M.A.

President
Halladay Education Group Inc.
P: +1-604-868-0002
E: info@halladayeducationgroup.com
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com





P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

Is Your School On Google Maps

Hello,

Well we’re back to rain here in Vancouver, but the bright side is that it’s Friday and our Vancouver Canucks hockey team will be playing the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are the worst team in the NHL.

Many of you found our firm via an Internet search. You either clicked on our link in a natural search (using keywords) or a pay-per-click link on Google of Yahoo. Yet most of you may not know how many hours were put into optimizing our website so that it’s search engine friendly. We’ve hundreds of back-links to our site, optimized title and description tags, and copy with key word density. In addition, we’ve links on Tweeter, Facebook, Blog, LinkedIn, and other social marketing websites.

How much time has your school put into optimizing your website and utilizing other web-based tools to promote your school? It’s also part of my marketing strategy of optimizing your marketing systems to bring in as many prospective clients (parents and students) into your marketing ‘funnel’ as possible, and then connecting with them as much as possible to creating a compelling reason to contact your school about admissions.

One strategy is to get your school on Google Maps. But how do you get your website above the regular results on Google maps without paying for it? Good listings on Google maps can result in many website visitors. But how do you optimize your website?

For many schools, it is very important to be listed in Google Maps. If you offer a service or a program that is relevant to a special area, you might miss many visitors if your website is not listed in Google Maps. This summer, Google changed its algorithm so that the search results automatically include local results if relevant. These local results are often displayed above the first regular result on the result pages.

If your website is listed in the local results, it will be listed above the regular results on that page and people will also see the exact location of your school and find quick access to your school’s information. If web surfers enter your school’s name in Google they will get your company information at the top of the search results, above all other results on the page.

Google will also show user reviews about your business in the results. But how do you get listed on Google Maps? You can submit your website to Google Maps through Google's Local Business Center. Login to your Google account and click "Add New Listing" to enter your company information.

How to optimize your Google Maps listing

There are several things that you can do to get a better listing on Google Maps or to make your listing stand out. You can enter your school information in Google Maps for free but to be listed at the top of the list, you have to optimize your entry. Enter as much information as possible about your school. Include important keywords in your description. Choose the best possible category for your website. If possible, include images and videos to help your listing stand out. The more information you provide, the better. If your school location is in the center of the town, it is more likely that it will appear at the top of the list. Submit your website to other local directories. Google Maps compiles its local results by crawling and parsing data from other online directories and databases. A good position in online yellow pages can cause your listing to be placed higher on the list. The more local directories list your website, the better.

Optimize your web pages for local content. Add your city and state name in your web page title. You can also use local meta tags to tell search engines the location of your website. Encourage your website visitors to write positive reviews about your company on Google Maps. More stars can mean a higher position.

If you follow the tips above, your website will get a good listing in Google Maps. Do not spam Google and describe your business without exaggeration. Include your keywords in your company description but don't overdo it.

===============================================

CAN YOUR MARKETING AND ADMISSIONS IMPROVE?

================================================

You need to understand the critical elements affecting the marketing and admissions of your school and determine whether your current marketing plan, strategies, message, and media are working effectively, and what areas you need to make adjustments in. It's important to understand that current and prospective parents, students, and donors are influenced by your message and your media. They are making decisions about enrolling or re-enrolling at your school or even making a donation. It's critical that your school develops a marketing system that maximizes your message and reassures your community about what you represent and how they fit in, and the benefits to enrolling at your school. You need to:

• Identify your school's strengths and weaknesses from a marketing perspective;
• Review current demographics of your school;
• Assess the external pressures that affect you;
• Assess the current processes that attract and bond students and families;
• Market Analysis to determine "who" you are reaching out to and alternate markets to maximize;
• Review strategies related to lead generation / conversion and student retention;
• Determine critical message(s) that represent what your school is about;
• Determine the most suitable media to reach your market (e.g., publications, advertising, outreach programs, social media, internal/external communication by your staff);
• Determine a systemized approach for your marketing metrics (e.g., Cost per inquiry, retention, drop rate, sales conversion for admissions staff, enrollment projections, response rate);
• Analyze your advertising, collateral material, websites, Internet ads, re-marketing ad copy and media choices;
• Review communication stream and use of resources to increase lead flow and create a better quality lead generation for the admissions team;
• Development of alternate marketing strategies and tactics to enhance the admissions performance and enrollment.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

We can help your school improve the critical elements of effective marketing and admissions, by evaluating your current marketing plan, strategies, message, and media, and suggest adjustments. Our approach to reviewing your current marketing and admissions system is comprised of a four-part process, which begins with a one-day site visit to analyze your school’s current situation. Our approach is comprised of four phases:

1). Determine Scope of Review Process:

• Meeting with the Head of School to determine realistic enrolment goals, budget, staffing, timelines, and SWOT analysis.

2). Review Current Marketing/Admissions Materials & Admissions Data:

• Prior to the onsite interview sessions, the school will send related marketing and admissions materials, related data that measures enrollment performance, current enrollment and local demographics, budget update, and annual marketing plan for review.

3). One-Day Focus Group Interviews & Research Analysis (Internal/External):

• After reviewing the documents from your school, we will come to your campus and spends one-day interviewing key constituents of your community to determine the strengths of your school’s admissions process (e.g., administration, parents, students, staff, former parents, competitors), barriers to increasing enrolment, and opportunities and trends to take advantage to improve enrolment.
• Review the school’s current process for marketing and admissions and collateral materials and staffing assignment.
• Hold a “mystery call” with the school to assess the script for new parents and how they’re handled by the reception desk and admissions staff.

4). Final Report:

Develop a customized Summary Report outlining a set of multiple strategies to increase student enrolment (lead generation/conversion, retention, timelines, and staffing). This includes:

• Issues that are holding your school back from reaching its enrollment goals;
• Market Analysis that identifies "who" you should market to maximize enrolment;
• Develop a set of strategies to enhance enrollment (e.g., publications, social media, advertising, outreach programs, internal/external communication by your staff), staffing, budget, work plan, and tracking metrics to measure your marketing success (e.g., enrolment, retention, response rate, fundraising performance);
• Develop new marketing strategies and tactics to enhance your marketing performance and enrolment

To find out more about our firm’s marketing and admissions services, and learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail.

=======================================================

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group

Receive our updates by clicking here.

P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

Is Your Marketing and Admissions System Working?

Hello:

We’re having incredible fall weather here in Vancouver with the colours of the leaves changing and Canada Geese criss-crossing our skies as they head south. Of course this means our yard will soon be coated in a layer of leaves from our cherry, plum, apple, and willow trees, but they compensated us by the wonderful fruit they provided in the summer. I’m also glad the weather is great since my daughter is attending her school’s outdoor education program on Vancouver Island. Does your school have an outdoor education program? If not, you should consider it!

As I type this eNewsletter, I’m listening to the Vancouver Canucks Hockey team on the radio and it’s not too inspiring (they lost), so I’ll switch my focus to marketing and admissions for private schools. I’ve noticed numerous private schools with their open house ads in local and national papers promoting enrollment for next school (or even this year). Here’s a sample of one I cut out of the paper. Please click here to see it.

What do you think of it? I like the style and layout, and the single picture rather than the typical collage that too many schools use to force in every market they represent (hint: don’t do this!). What do you think of the first major header? In today’s market, people are inundated with media and the first headline is critical to catching their attention. Do you think this is too cute and may not catch the reader’s attention (you only have 2 seconds to do it). There’s also no reference to the school’s web site (note: parents/students review a school’s website 5-7 times before they make the decision to contact the school). Also, there’s no call to action for the reader to contact the school and have their name entered into their database for follow up correspondence (this can easily be set up with web-based software on your website). It appears to be an ad that encourages parents to show up (note: no phone number or email is given for more information). It’s important for schools to track the value an ad and to calculate the response and cost of advertising, and to statistically determine the return on the value of the ad (level of inquiries, offers made, registration). Of course, this school has a wonderful reputation and a waiting list, so they may not have the same level of urgency as other schools.

Today I’m going to share with more insight into marketing and admissions. Finding and retaining students is the lifeblood for any school and you need strategies to ensure that you’re recruiting the right type and number of students while you’re also validating to your current parents and students whey they should re-enrol at your school (remember it is more economical to keep your current parents/students than find new ones).

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President
Halladay Education Group Inc.
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

>> TWITTER ->> Receive our updates by signing in here.


P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

================================
IN THIS ISSUE
================================

1. Focus On Our Key Services

2. Is Your Marketing and Admissions System Working?

3. Products At Our Online Store

==================================
1. FOCUS ON OUR KEY SERVICES
==================================

(A) STARTING A SCHOOL
Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression. That’s why you need a firm with experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally.

(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING
We can lead the development of your school’s Strategic Plan, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration for school improvement.

(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS
Do you want your school to have the best board possible? Our full-day governance workshop (in combination with our informative online self-assessment survey) will fine-tune your board’s performance and focus priorities.

(D) SCHOOL EVALUATIONS

A school review is critical to knowing if you’re heading in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.”

================================================
2. IS YOUR MARKETING & ADMISSIONS SYSTEM WORKING?
================================================

You need to understand the critical elements affecting the marketing and admissions of your school and determine whether your current marketing plan, strategies, message, and media are working effectively, and what areas you need to make adjustments in. It's important to understand that current and prospective parents, students, and donors are influenced by your message and your media. They are making decisions about enrolling or re-enrolling at your school or even making a donation. It's critical that your school develops a marketing system that maximizes your message and reassures your community about what you represent and how they fit in, and the benefits to enrolling at your school. You need to:

• Identify your school's strengths and weaknesses from a marketing perspective
• Review current demographics of your school
• Assess the external pressures that affect you
• Assess the current processes that attract and bond students and families
  
• Market Analysis to determine "who" you are reaching out to and alternate markets to maximize
• Review strategies related to lead generation / conversion and student retention
• Determine critical message(s) that represent what your school is about
• Determine the most suitable media to reach your market (e.g., publications, advertising, outreach programs, social media, internal/external communication by your staff)
• Determine a systemized approach for your marketing metrics (e.g., Cost per inquiry, retention, drop rate, sales conversion for admissions staff, enrollment projections, response rate)
• Analyze your advertising, collateral material, websites, Internet ads, re-marketing ad copy and media choices
• Review communication stream and use of resources to increase lead flow and create a better quality lead generation for the admissions team
• Development of alternate marketing strategies and tactics to enhance the admissions performance and enrollment.
  

OUR SOLUTION

We can help your school improve the critical elements of effective marketing and admissions, by evaluating your current marketing plan, strategies, message, and media, and suggest adjustments. Our approach to reviewing your current marketing and admissions system is comprised of a four-part process, which begins with a one-day site visit to analyze your school’s current situation. Our approach is comprised of four phases:

1). Determine Scope of Review Process:Meeting with the Head of School to determine realistic enrolment goals, budget, staffing, timelines, and SWOT analysis

2). Review Current Marketing/Admissions Materials & Admissions Data:

• Prior to the onsite interview sessions, the school will send related marketing and admissions materials, related data that measures enrollment performance, current enrollment and local demographics, budget update, and annual marketing plan for review.

3). One-Day Focus Group Interviews & Research Analysis (Internal/External):

• After reviewing the documents from your school, we will come to your campus and spends one-day interviewing key constituents of your community to determine the strengths of your school’s admissions process (e.g., administration, parents, students, staff, former parents, competitors), barriers to increasing enrolment, and opportunities and trends to take advantage to improve enrolment.
• Review the school’s current process for marketing and admissions and collateral materials and staffing assignment.
• Hold a “mystery call” with the school to assess the script for new parents and how they’re handled by the reception desk and admissions staff.
  

4). Final Report: Develop a customized Summary Report outlining a set of multiple strategies to increase student enrolment (lead generation/conversion, retention, timelines, and staffing). This includes:

• Issues that are holding your school back from reaching its enrollment goals;
• Market Analysis that identifies "who" you should market to maximize enrolment;
• Develop a set of strategies to enhance enrollment (e.g., publications, social media, advertising, outreach programs, internal/external communication by your staff), staffing, budget, work plan, and tracking metrics to measure your marketing success (e.g., enrolment, retention, response rate, fundraising performance);
• Develop new marketing strategies and tactics to enhance your marketing performance and enrolment.
  

To find out more about our firm’s marketing and admissions services, and learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail.

=====================================
4. ONLINE STORE
=====================================

Here are 2 popular Toolkits to help you to either start your own school or develop your own strategic plan, step-by-step.

(1). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)
Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook and Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD’s. It’s all here to help you develop your own plan.

(2). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)
Are you still struggling with starting your school? Four experienced school leaders share how they started their own school from the ground up. You’ll also receive our bonus CD on developing your strategic plan.

=======================================================

To your success,

Douglas Halladay
President

Halladay Education Group Inc.

How To Improve Your Private School

Hello,

Most schools boards are driven by the calendar of events, their Head of School, crisis, or their own personal agenda. So few boards have taken the time to prioritize what their overall needs are and develop a plan of action to achieve it in a coordinated fashion. That means your board should determine your annual goals (or even better a 5-year strategic plan), set up your board committees to monitor their implementation, and delegate the goal’s achievement by operationalizing the goals via your Head of School and staff.

Many schools spend their time reacting to unexpected changes instead of anticipating and preparing for them. This is called crisis management. Schools caught off guard spend a great deal of time and resources "playing catch up." They use up energy and funds coping with immediate problems with little energy left to anticipate and prepare for the future. It does not have to be that way.

The alternative is HEG’s finely tuned school review and board governance workshop that provides a viable alternative to reactive management. Our systematic process provides definite objectives and a road map that can be implemented and evaluated immediately. This allows your school to:

• Gain credibility amongst current and prospective donors and identify critical projects for investment;
• Identify areas of operation needing attention and use it as a springboard to strengthen performance;
• Identify and reach consensus on critical issues (e.g., finance, enrollment, marketing, fundraising, HR, academic programs, student performance, facilities) before they become a crisis;
• Articulate a uniform, shared mission and vision, and provide a clearer focus for the school, producing efficiency and effectiveness, participation, and ownership by stakeholders;
• Allocate resources to opportunities and improve finances and projections;
• Build trust, respect, team-work, and communication amongst board members and Administration;
• Create a framework that guides decision making and ensures that members of the school are working towards the same goals, even if the environment around your school changes;
• Ensure that board members understand their roles, responsibilities, and board-wide priorities;
• Monitor performance and provide benchmarks from which progress can be measured.

We can provide your school with a combination of services. During the fall school year, our firm is being retained by many schools to evaluate their school and provide a one-day board workshop for new and existing board members. This allows your board to understand where your school is at now, what needs immediate focus, and how you can operate as a board to achieve these prioritized improvements. This keeps everyone on the same page and prioritizes your efforts for the remainder of the school year. There’s also a cost savings of 25% if you book both services as a combination, since there is an overlap of services. However, you will get the most value if you book the School Evaluation and Board Governance Workshop for October, November, or December. Here is an overview:

SCHOOL EVALUATION

A school review is critical to knowing if you’re headed in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.” We are confident that our unprecedented experience with quality school improvement will broaden the capacity of your school and its sustainable operation and enrollment. We are ideally placed to assess your school’s performance and develop comprehensive strategies and supporting action plans for your Board and Administration to lead your school. Our evaluation process identifies areas needing organizational improvement to assist with revitalizing your school. To establish a complete picture of your school’s performance against established benchmarks and to determine areas of priority that your school needs, we implement a three-pronged approach to assess your current situation and gather measurable data:

• On-site focus groups, interviews, and observations;
• Multiple surveys of your school’s community (e.g., parents, staff, board), and;
• One-on-one discussions with your School’s Executive Committee and Board members.

We evaluate your school applying our in-depth background of starting, leading, and managing private schools. After our online surveys and two day on-site sessions are completed we will follow up with a summary report that provides a range of recommendations and action plan strategies to improve your school. The Summary Report prioritizes critical issues that you need to improve upon, as well as the "indicators of success" you need to move towards the continued improvement of your school. Our methodology focuses on a “SWOT” analysis approach identifying your school’s:

• Strengths;
• Weaknesses;
• Opportunities, and;
• Threats / Trends.

Our methodology involves an analysis of your key performance benchmarks utilizing a four-step approach:

1. Review of school documentation (e.g., Marketing/enrollment materials, enrollment data, tuition overview, financial aid, student/parent enrollment contract, strategic plan, sample report cards, sample staff contracts/teacher grids/policy handbook, other handbooks, society/board bylaws and constitution, staff and board list, map of the school plant, history of school’s fundraising record, overview of school educational program(s), accreditation documentation, staff evaluation instrument and professional development plan).
2. Two Days of onsite interviews with key stakeholders (parents, students, staff, and/or board).
3. Confidential statistically-based online surveys with your community (staff, board, parents), and;
4. One-on-one discussions with your School’s Executive Committee, Board Members, and Administration.

We then develop the final report that summarizes areas that need to be addressed for short- and long-term success, as well as areas to celebrate. This includes an action plan to mobilize your board and administration. The final report focuses your path for organizational improvement. Click here for more info.

BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOP

In addition, we can provide a one-day follow-up board governance workshop with your school’s trustees. Our thoughtful workshop provides feedback to analyze and develop a clear set of strategies to guide your school’s leadership with the ongoing development of your school and governance.

The Board Governance Workshop and Survey refocuses Trustees on the Critical Elements of Effective Board Performance. This includes a comprehensive 360° online “Board Performance Self-Assessment Survey” based on years of research that assesses your board’s performance and a one day workshop to identify and resolve critical governance issues, review best practices, and focus areas for board development. This includes:

1. Presentation of governance best practices for school trustees.
2. Participation in hands-on case scenarios that highlight effective board practices.
3. Building a profile of your board’s performance gap based on confidential responses to the online survey and identifying areas that need immediate improvement (the survey is implemented as part of the school evaluation process).
4. Facilitation of a one-day workshop that assists the board in developing strategies and action plans to close your performance gap for the governance of leadership of the school.
5. As part of the process, the Board members candidly discuss and reach consensus on issues surrounding the performance of your board and lay the groundwork for long-term improvement.

You receive a follow-up “Summative Board Performance Report” providing a comprehensive overview of the board’s survey results, issues, and a plan of action for improvement. Click here for more info.

NEXT STEP

If you’d like to find out more about our firm’s school evaluation and board workshop services and learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail or call us at +1-604-868-0002.

Book now before October and November are full so that your board is focused and effective for the balance of the school year.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group Inc.

>> TWITTER ->> Receive our updates by signing in here.

P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

Developing Your Strategic Plan

Hi,

We’re having an incredible fall here in Vancouver with blue skies and mild weather. I took my son up to Loon Lake for his Boy’s Club event and we took in the beauty of the lake with mist hovering over the water and hikes under the canopy of 10 story cedars and firs. Our fantastic day was topped off by the Vancouver Canucks hockey team winning their first game of the season over the ‘Habs…better plan our Stanley Cup parade now. ;^)

As the school year unfolds, many school leaders request additional information about our strategic planning services. I’ve completed numerous strategic plans for every kind of private school you can imagine (day, boarding, international, preparatory, special needs, K-12, ESL, elite sports, single gender, rural, urban, religious), school districts, and post secondary institutions. And of course, I would be pleased to develop a strategic plan for your school too. This is time of year to begin planning the process and retaining my services.

One of the key questions asked is what is the best process is to develop the most suitable strategic plan for your type school? How can you gather stakeholder input to design a plan that is developed efficiently but has the most buy-in and provides the most effective direction for your board and staff?

Today I’m going to share with you several tips on how to utilize a planning process that suits your school’s culture and needs.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President
Halladay Education Group Inc.
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

>> TWITTER ->> Receive our updates by signing on here.

P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

================================
IN THIS ISSUE
================================

1. In The News

2. Focus On Our Key Services

3. Developing Your Strategic Plan

4. Products At Our Online Store

==================================
1. IN THE NEWS
==================================

>> HIGH TURNOVER AMOUNT PRINCIPALS
Austin American-Statesman: University of Texas researchers have found that about 70 percent of new public high school principals in Texas leave their jobs within the first five years. Only about half of new principals stay on the job at least three years, College of Education researchers found. And principals in high-poverty schools are leaving the soonest.

>> SUCCESS ACADEMY A MODEL FOR NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATION
Rapid City Journal: The program was developed to keep freshmen in school and improve academic achievement at the boarding school that served students from 30 different states.

==================================
2. FOCUS ON OUR KEY SERVICES
==================================

(A) STARTING A SCHOOL

Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression. That’s why you need a firm with experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally.

(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING

We can lead the development of your school’s Strategic Plan, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration for school improvement.

(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS

Do you want your school to have the best board possible? Our full-day governance workshop (in combination with our informative online self-assessment survey) will fine-tune your board’s performance and focus priorities.

(D) SCHOOL EVALUATIONS

A school review is critical to knowing if you’re heading in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.” Click on the following link for more info: http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/institution_assessments.php

================================================
3. DEVELOPING YOUR STRATEGIC PLAN
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YOUR PLAN SHOULD ANSWER 4 QUESTIONS

Strategic planning need not be frustrating, unproductive, or costly. Done right, it raises support in your community and have enormous value to your school’s growth. The ultimate product of your plan is your plan itself - the board’s determination of the strategies that will guide the decisions of your organization and your annual operational plan; your blueprint for your school’s future. The process of strategic planning is sequential and raises a progression of questions that HEG uses to examine assumptions, gather and incorporate information about the present, and anticipate the world in which your school will be working in the future. Your plan asks:

- Where is your school now?
- Where do you want your school to be?
- How does your school get there?
- How does your school measure your progress and know you’ve gotten there?

DON’T BE REACTIVE

Many schools spend their time reacting to unexpected changes instead of anticipating and preparing for them. This is called crisis management. Schools caught off guard spend a great deal of time and resources "playing catch up." They use up energy and funds coping with immediate problems with little energy left to anticipate and prepare for the future. This unproductive cycle locks schools into a reactive posture. It does not have to be that way. The alternative is our well tested planning process that provides a viable alternative to knee-jerk management. Our step-by-step planning process provides definite objectives and end products that can be implemented and measured. Very simply, it’s a process by which your school can look into the future, identify a picture of that future based on current data, and control forces that affect you. This allows your school to:

- Identify areas of operation needing attention and use it as a springboard to strengthen performance;
- Identify and reach consensus on critical issues (e.g., finance, enrollment, marketing, fundraising, HR, academic programs, student performance, facilities) before they become a crisis;
- Articulate a uniform, shared mission and vision, and provide a clearer focus for the school, producing efficiency and effectiveness, participation, and ownership by stakeholders;
- Allocate resources to opportunities and improve finances and projections;
- Build trust, respect, team-work, and communication amongst board members and Administration;
- Create a framework that guides decision making and ensures that members of the school are working towards the same goals, even if the environment around your school changes;
- Gain credibility amongst current and prospective donors and identify critical projects for investment;
- Ensure that board members understand their roles, responsibilities, and board-wide priorities;
Monitor performance and provide benchmarks from which progress can be measured.

PLANNING PROCESS

The following provides a framework for the process that we utilize in the development of your school’s Strategic Plan. It can of course be modified to suit your needs.

- Determine the scope of your Strategic Planning process, and subsequent steps and timelines;
- Orient the board, administration, faculty, and parents with the planning process;
- Obtain community views on the school’s performance via focus group interviews and surveys;
- Assemble internal and external background data to determine where your school is now (e.g., enrollment, finance, student retention, staff retention, human resources, demographics);
- Re/define your vision, mission, core values, educational philosophy, and critical success factors;
- Assess your current situation and your school’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT’s);
- Identify, prioritize, and frame the critical issues holding your school back and priorities for change;
- Develop strategic goals, aims, and objectives for success;
- Develop your action plans for improvement based on your goals and objectives;
- Prepare your internal and public Strategic Planning document(s) for board approval;
- Implement the plan with your board and administration

To find out more about our firm’s strategic planning process and recent testimonials, and learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail.

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4. ONLINE STORE
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[!FIRST], here are 2 popular Toolkits to help you to either start your own school or develop your own strategic plan, step-by-step.

(1). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)

Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook and Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD’s. It’s all here to help you develop your own plan.

(2). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)

Are you still struggling with starting your school? Four experienced school leaders share how they started their own school from the ground up. You’ll also receive our bonus CD on developing your strategic plan.

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To your success,

Douglas Halladay
President
Halladay Education Group Inc.