| Notes |
National Association of Independent Schools 2012–2013 Annual Report6Member MinutesThursday, February 27, 2014 Location: Swan and Dolphin Resort, Orlando, FLJack Creeden, chair of the NAIS board, opened the meeting with welcoming remarks, greeting the NAIS members and introducing the officers on the dais. He also gave the Chair’s Report, presenting on the recent activities of the association.Katherine Dinh, vice chair of the NAIS board, presented the Membership Report. She reported that as of February 27, NAIS has 1,491 full and candidate school members and 76 member associations. NAIS welcomed 36 new school members this fiscal year. Katherine also reported that NAIS’s school subscriber categories include two options for schools that do not meet the requirements for membership: Standard and Premium School Subscription. As of February 18, NAIS has 263 school subscribers. This brings us to 1,754 schools in our membership and subscription.Katherine encouraged attendees to visit the Member Resource Center in the Exhibit Hall to meet NAIS staff and to learn more about programs and resources produced with them in mind. She provided the following highlights of the work underway this year:• This conference marks the official debut of Data and Analysis for School Leadership (DASL). In DASL, schools will still be able to work with the 33 years of data that they have contributed to StatsOnline, but they will find the interface more intuitive and the data cleaner. What’s most exciting is that DASL represents a collaboration of more than 30 independent school associations, which should greatly reduce the number of surveys schools complete each year.• In the area of research, recent reports have focused on governance practices, study abroad programs, and the role of financial aid in admission decisions. In a new “Deep Dive” research endeavor, NAIS is convening research working groups made up of school leaders and outside experts to tackle the complex challenges and key issues for our schools, and then taking those conversations to you. • Inspiration Lab is a new online venue to share and highlight stories of the innovative learning taking place at schools. • The NAIS Connect online communities are truly coming alive; NAIS is seeing more and more productive discussion happening there as peers share information and ideas on a daily basis. • NAIS is expanding and refreshing its leadership development opportunities. • NAIS’s Trend Talks continue in March 2014 and will be hosted by three member schools. These regional, in-person events expand on the trends explored in the NAIS Trendbook. • Attendees can find new books — including the new Diversity Work in Independent Schools and the Handbook on Child Safety for Parents — at the NAIS conference bookstore. • Last, with members’ input, NAIS continues to produce resources in areas they have indicated are the most important to them, including affordability, leadership, governance, school safety, diversity, and educational technology. |