Summer Program in Leadership Development

In response to a confidential evaluation at the end of last year’s Leadership Development residency, we asked the question, “Would you recommend this program to others?” There was no checkbox. There was just a blank. And it’s funny, but it’s also true that “Yes” actually came in third – behind “Absolutely!” and “Definitely!” Every answer was affirmative. It is with great pleasure that we open our next such residency…..

The Second Annual NYSAIS Leadership Development Program is an opportunity for those special, emergent educators within your school. Some 47 percent of American corporations have active leadership development programs – providing perspective and training for their aspiring leaders. We don’t need to tell you how few independent schools have a comparable program. The result is that those curious about their own futures in education have no real structured means of exploring those possibilities. Those who have taken on fresh challenges will have some support along the way – but will mostly be left to the kind of on-the-job training that is the particular province of independent schools.

The time has come to do something about this situation. For the past three years, Christine Martin and Richard Eyster have been presenting Leadership Development programs for NYSAIS. From Saturday afternoon through Tuesday noon, June 23-26, they will once again lead an active, interactive, and highly structured program specifically designed for our most promising educational leaders. Leadership, as we envision it, constitutes any role that provides new challenges and opportunities outside the classroom, from leadership of a major committee to Assistant Head, encompassing deans, division directors, department heads. Emphatically, we also hope to work with teachers who have reached a point in their careers where they are actively beginning to consider a move beyond the classroom.

There is so much for prospective leaders to learn along the way. Just as in our long-running Classroom Management Program, our mission is to speed the learning curve and ease the eventual transition into a new position. We will be dealing with all of the following issues – and more:

•Where am I headed? Questions as Opportunities
•The First Sixty Days – Getting off to a Great Start
•Delegating and Empowering
•Developing a Strong Relationship with your Supervisor
•Building Trust
•Delivering Negative News
•Developing Confidantes/Dealing with Confidentiality
•Dealing Effectively with Difficult Individuals
•How to Plan and Execute Effective Meetings
•Developing Vision – and Leading Change

We very much hope that you will consider nominating (at least) one individual from your school whose growth matters. We promise nothing less than a powerfully valuable experience.

The NYSAIS Summer Program in Leadership Development will be held at Trinity-Pawling from late afternoon on Saturday, June 23 through noon on Tuesday, June 26. The $995 free per participant, includes all materials, room, and board for the duration of the program. Places filled quickly last year. Spaces are strictly limited, and will be filled on a first-received/first-reserved basis. We warmly encourage you to consider enrolling your most promising educators for a program that promises to have a positive, lasting impact on their professional and personal development. Thank you.

Over the past eight years, Christine Martin and Richard Eyster have worked with more than a thousand teachers to enhance their skills in the classroom. In the last several years, they have taken on an equally urgent issue – the development of a powerful skill base for our new and aspiring independent school leaders. Their one-day Leadership Development program in New York in December was met with unanimous praise – except that people wanted more. And there is indeed a great deal more ground to cover. The blueprint for the NYSAIS Summer Residency in Leadership Development is already in place. It promises an intense, thorough coverage of all aspects of leadership, from establishing new initiatives and creating change to dealing effectively with difficult parents. It also promises the chance to network, to eat well, and to share ideas with other members of this “best and brightest” collection of independent school educators.

In addition to this summer residency, they run the NYSAIS Summer Residency in Classroom Management in August, and annual training cycles for young teachers in New York City. They have also worked with the Association of Independent Schools of New England, the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, InterSchool, the National Association of Independent Schools, and for the Central and Eastern European Schools Association in Zagreb, Croatia.

Christine Martin is currently the Director of Learning Skills and Richard Eyster is the Director of Middle School at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, New York. They can be reached at cmartin@packer.edu and reyster@packer.edu.

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