Schools across the U.S. are poised to reopen some time in the new year. As students and teachers to return to campus, here is my advice.

Leading a school or organization smack tab in the middle of COVID-19 is, without question, edgework. School leaders are facing complex decision layered upon complex decision. And, overarching all of the substantial day-to-day decisions is the question about remote vs hybrid learning.

We need a new way of coping. “That means reckoning with what’s called ambiguous loss: any loss that’s unclear and lacks a resolution.”

Read about my conversation with @Laura Ascione from @eSchool News about St. Thomas School’s transition to remote learning and how we come together to maintain a strong sense of community in the era of COVID19.

I sometimes imagine thoughts to be cars driving by, encouraging me to take a ride to a destination that distracts me from the present and away from the moment. Enter meditation - a practice that is helping me, especially during this era of COVID-19.

Moments matter. As much as I am about strategic planning and goal setting, I am first and foremost about the present. I believe in noting moments. This blog marks a moment: the official launch of my website.

It is hard to believe how quickly we reached this milestone. Less than two weeks ago the decision about when and how to close the school campus loomed.

Thank you to The Enrollment Management Association for inviting me as a guest on a recent podcast. We are all in the midst of a crisis that engulfs all areas - health, economic, and education among others.

The impact of COVID-19 on schools across the United States, and the world, is shocking. I share a range of insights on remote learning gleaned from my own early experiences in Seattle and from around the world.

Several of you have asked me to share a framework for decision making in response to COVID-19 in schools. Feel free to download, share, adjust for your own needs. 

Read more…

If I had written this article last week, I would have told you the school campus was open, that we had many protocols in place to keep the campus as clean and sanitized as possible, and we were continuing to prepare for a potential closing.

Whether you stroll onto the lawn for your news or get it on a screen, it is pretty evident that tomorrow's challenges will require a new breed of leadership.

When I think about what makes a leader truly authentic and why it matters, I begin at the end. For me, the why matters most.

Stories and research on LGBTQ leadership in independent schools. Where do LGBTQ leaders find acceptance? What challenges do they face? How can schools learn from these leaders, and what is their impact?

Edgework means having one foot grounded in current knowledge or skill while the other foot enters more ambiguous, less comfortable territory.