Principal, Executive Vice President
As usual, this year’s SAIS annual conference in Atlanta was full of insightful content. Two keynotes and one session stood out to us; all three rooted their messages in data and stretched our thinking about what’s working in independent schools. Here’s what we heard.
Creating Superfans
The opening keynote, Creating Superfans, applied trends from the consumer world to schools. Brands like Disney, Costco, and Publix have mastered the art of turning everyday customers into loyal, enthusiastic advocates. The keynote message is that schools can, and should, do the same.
Every School Staff Member Is in the Experience Department
Brittany Hodak’s message was clear: in a school, everyone is part of the experience department. Principals, tech staff, teachers, coaches—they’re not just employees. To families, they are the school. Every interaction, every email, every hallway hello contributes to the story families tell about your institution.
And that story matters. Because when people have an exceptional experience, they talk about it. When they don’t… they forget. Or worse, they reduce your school to a commodity: tuition, test scores, rankings. That’s the danger of apathy and indifference.
Your goal? Get families talking. Not just about test scores or college acceptances—but about how your school feels. How their child is known. How the community wraps around them. The moments where the experience rises above what families expect.
Brittany talked about the SUPER Framework:
- Start with your story – What makes your school unique? What’s your “why”?
- Understand your families’ stories – What do they care about? What are their hopes?
- Personalize the experience – From onboarding to graduation, tailor the journey.
- Exceed expectations – Surprise and delight in the small moments.
- Repeat – Consistency builds trust and loyalty.
Terminology
What is a superfan?
A superfan is someone so delighted by an experience that they become a vocal advocate. In the school world, superfans are families who create more families. They’re the ones who rave about your school at dinner parties, share your posts online, and bring new students through word-of-mouth.
From Net Neutral to Net Positive
Every interaction is an opportunity. Schools can elevate neutral moments—a routine email, a standard tour—into positive ones with just a little creativity and care. Consider each touchpoint in your school’s journey. Where can you add warmth, clarity, or a dash of delight? In a world where apathy is the biggest threat, creating superfans is your best defense. Flashy marketing is not the goal. Meaningful, memorable experiences are what resonate.
10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People
What does it take to motivate young people—from the onset of puberty through the final stages of brain development? Dr. David Yeager shared his research, grounded in the science of growth mindset and adolescent development.
The Adolescent Brain Is Wired for Growth
Between ages 10 and 25, the brain undergoes profound changes. Teenagers are not “missing” a prefrontal cortex, as popular myths suggest. In fact, their brains are uniquely primed to grow stronger when challenged with meaningful, difficult work. When students are supported and held to high standards, they are more likely to transform.
Yeager’s national study found that students with a growth mindset were more likely to take harder classes and feel prepared for college. But mindset isn’t binary. Everyone carries both fixed and growth beliefs, and the environment—especially the teacher’s mindset—can tip the balance.
Fixed mindset educators may unintentionally enter a shame-and-blame cycle with struggling students, interpreting confusion as laziness or defiance. Harsh grading policies, meant to instill discipline, often backfire. Students who don’t master content by test time may give up, hide mistakes, and stop asking for help.
In contrast, growth mindset teachers offer retesting opportunities and credit recovery based on demonstrated understanding. They believe students can improve—and they structure their classrooms to reflect that belief.
Yeager encourages leaders to adopt a “mentor mindset” high expectations paired with high support. This approach honors students’ need for status and respect, which are key drivers of motivation. Students who feel known and trusted engage more deeply.
Wise Feedback Over Compliment Sandwiches
One practical strategy is “wise feedback.” Instead of relying on the traditional compliment-critique-compliment approach, which often leaves students fixated on criticism, teachers can add a simple note:
“I’m giving you these comments because I have high standards and I know you can meet them.”
This kind of feedback doubles the likelihood that students will revise their work. It signals belief, care, and respect—three ingredients that fuel growth.
Rethinking Independent School Revenue
Ann Snyder, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at NAIS, led a session addressing the need for a new approach to revenue and leadership. Schools must evolve beyond siloed departments and outdated fundraising models to meet the demands of a shifting financial landscape.
The Golden Triangle: Enrollment, Advancement, Finance
At the heart of Snyder’s strategy is the concept of an integrated revenue team. Enrollment, advancement, and finance (traditionally separate functions) must operate in close partnership. This “Golden Triangle” of school revenue management supports the head of school, enables sound financial goal-setting, and creates space for vision casting and business development.
Why Integration Matters
Integrated leadership is about culture. Snyder outlines three key traits of high-functioning teams:
- Trusting and supportive: Decisions aren’t driven by personalities or turf wars.
- Visionary: Leaders bring energetic ideas and stay ahead of the curve.
- School over role: No department is elevated above others; all serve the mission.
Too often, school teams are well-meaning but misaligned. They struggle to articulate shared goals, get caught in personality conflicts, and fail to support the head and board in meaningful ways. This dysfunction has consequences: the average head of school tenure has dropped from seven years to five since 2011. Snyder warns that further decline would jeopardize strategic planning and capital campaign cycles—most transformative work simply can’t be accomplished in less than five years.
The Revenue Reality
In FY 2024, 1,400 schools raised $5 billion. But the gap between revenue and expenses is shrinking, especially among SAIS schools. Fewer seven-figure donors are emerging, while more gifts are restricted and under $1,000. Data from 2023 shows that 74 percent of all gifts in 2023 were under $1,000, and 74 percent of total funds came from just 2.3 percent of donors.
This shift demands a new mindset. Schools must pool all revenue sources and move away from setting goals based solely on the operating budget. It’s not fair—or sustainable—to ask development teams to fill budget shortfalls. Instead, school leaders should set goals collaboratively, with shared ownership across the team.
What’s Next: Business Development and Wealth Transfer
Snyder predicts that business development offices—focused on auxiliary programs—will become the norm in independent schools. With tuition rising and financial aid demand growing, schools must diversify revenue streams They must create leadership teams around collaboration. Meet monthly. Set meaningful goals. Try new approaches and be willing to fail. The headwinds aren’t going away, but with integrated leadership and shared vision, schools can navigate them with confidence.
Where Schools Must Focus Now
The future will reward schools that stay student-centered, family-aware, and aligned at the leadership table.
The message from the SAIS 2025 Annual Conference was direct: schools that win are schools that act. They build intentional experiences for families instead of relying on reputation. They expect students to rise to high standards and back that expectation with real support. They stop treating enrollment, advancement, and finance as separate silos and align them around shared goals and shared accountability.
The path is not complicated, but it does require discipline. Leaders who adopt these practices position their schools to grow stronger relationships, sustain funding, and protect mission and culture in a competitive landscape.
If your school has been waiting for the perfect moment to rethink systems, tighten collaboration, or strengthen community engagement, the moment is here. The schools that follow through will set themselves apart.
About the Winkler Group
Independent schools steward their legacies. The best ones shape the future. We help make both possible.
For over two decades, the Winkler Group has specialized in guiding independent schools from vision to action through strategic planning, capital campaigns, and fundraising counsel that delivers results.
A national firm headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, with offices across the country, the Winkler Group proudly partners with independent schools that build on their communities’ strengths to prepare every student for what’s ahead.
