Summary

Each of us can name the teacher who taught us the most. We can think back to one or two key moments which, for one reason or another, triggered a profound and durable change in the way we see the world. The story of this learning moment involves an educator as the main character, but it also happens in a specific place. A chain of events, beginning with a school’s inception, brings about this pivotal moment in the mind of a student. Sometimes the school began with a living room in a house, a solitary teacher, and a single class of students. Other times it began with a piece of land, a handful of investors, and a messaging campaign. So what is the story your school is telling? Where did it begin, and where is it going? This workshop will help independent-school leaders leverage the origin story to build institutional loyalty among parents, teachers, and students. This workshop will invite leaders in the independent-school space to draw from institutional memory to (1) optimize development campaigns, (2) compete for and retain talent, and (3) attract parents by expressing a unique campus identity.

Learning Outcomes

• A fleshed-out “origin story” that maps to a range of purposes

• Communicating your story with clarity, concision, and conviction

• How to “workshop” independent-school stories, with whom to practice, and why

• Frameworks for telling the school’s story to prospective parents

• How to choose and include meaningful details in external communications

• Improving communications relating to development and institutional advancement

• Gauging audience reaction to revise and adapt your material

• An expression of vision, learner profile, and teaching philosophy that rises from a school’s beginnings