Participate in an interactive feedback exercise to develop skills that will provide powerful strategies while demonstrating how to give, receive, and solicit feedback in a non-threatening way.

Learn to lead confidently in a time when AI is reshaping both leadership and operations. We’ll look at practical ways heads can use AI in their own roles, then turn to the bigger picture: how to understand the distinct opportunities and risks facing different staff departments, from admissions to business offices to MarCom. The focus is on systems-level leadership—how to set guardrails, frame the right questions for each team, and guide your school through AI adoption in a way that builds trust, improves capacity, and prepares the institution for what’s coming next.

Overly engaged parents can test even the most seasoned school leaders. Participants will be guided through practical strategies to handle tough conversations, turn conflict into collaboration, and maintain trust while protecting your school’s culture and community. Learn how to turn challenging parent interactions into opportunities for clarity, understanding, and stronger partnerships, all while keeping your composure intact.

Learn to confront the full spectrum of deepfake risks — from reputational sabotage to financial fraud, data breaches, and student safety concerns. The focus is on the head’s role in inoculating their community against synthetic media, preparing boards to understand emerging threats, and planning for crisis communications in an era of supercharged misinformation. Build skills that strengthen institutional resilience against both synthetic media and social engineering attacks, while developing protocols that safeguard students and the school. Leave with concrete strategies to protect trust, stability, and safety in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

In today’s fast-changing legal environment, school leadership means more than setting vision - it means navigating risk with confidence and acumen. From students and employees to governance and compliance, every decision you make as a school leader matters—and the legal stakes are higher than ever. Join a fast-paced, insightful session designed specifically for heads of school. Hear current updates on legal trends shaping independent schools nationwide and across the ISACS region—along with practical takeaways you can use right away. Leave informed, empowered, and ready to lead your school with clarity in a complex world.

Independent schools face growing pressure to balance strong retirement benefits with realities of cost management, compliance, and administrative resources. A Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) offers a solution designed to simplify retirement plan management while enhancing value for your faculty and staff. Explore how MEPs work and why they are particularly relevant for independent schools including streamlined administrative, oversight, reduced fiduciary burden, and the opportunity to offer competitive retirement benefits to attract and retain top talent.

After exploring the importance of setting an audaciously bold vision for your life, bravely taking the steps to make it happen, and believing in yourself, participants will put pen to paper and define vision, chart steps, and strengthen resilience to sustain you on your journey.

Today’s communication landscape is shaped by more than just new communication methods. Changing trends in news consumption and audience behavior - from shrinking attention spans to validation - seeking social-media behavior, to uncharted levels of compassion fatigue - are forcing heads of school to rethink their communication practices, prioritizing disruptive forms of communication that penetrate noise and break down cynicism. Explore these trends and how they challenge reputational management principles, offering practical techniques for overcoming the communication barriers of the "attention-deficit age.”

Enrollment Management Associations’ (EMA) 2025 special report, "An Independent School Education: Family Perceptions of Value and Affordability," delivered groundbreaking insights into the mindset of families from across the socioeconomic spectrum. Looking ahead to EMA's flagship report this spring, "The State of the Independent School Enrollment Industry," we can begin comparing and contrasting the viewpoints of parents and enrollment leaders. Join E3n CEO Mike Flanagan for a candid discussion on what the data is telling us about the state of our enrollment industry including our biggest challenges, unexpected insights, and the opportunities before us.

In today’s independent school landscape, crisis situations are inevitable. How we recover from them after the initial impact, though, is what positions a school for long-term success or peril. This session will review tried-and-true methods for combating allegations of mission-drift; rebuilding trust between leadership and stakeholders; expanding the school’s position in a competitive landscape; and re-embracing and promoting a sense of joy-based normalcy.

The forthcoming merger of the Education Records Bureau (ERB) and the Enrollment Management Association (EMA) into E3n creates opportunities for these two historic organizations to better serve independent schools in a volatile environment. Combining the strengths of each organization ca bridge the gaps between Admissions and Academics, unlocking unique insights, creating synergy, and transforming the student and family experience from enrollment through graduation. Join this workshop-style presentation and discuss the independent school "value squeeze," the changes related to how and what we assess in independent schools, imminent AI disruption, and what this might mean for your school and your brand.

Suzik will facilitate a discussion of issues and effective practices in leading accreditation teams, with a focus on DEIB, governance, managing the team, and other frequent considerations that arise. This session for aspiring and experienced accreditation team leaders will utilize case studies to explore challenging topics that can emerge during the visit. A review of team leader responsibilities along with supplemental information to further enhance team success will be included.