The Curious Leader: Building Solutions That Serve The Student

Do educators ever lose hours to administrative tasks? I recognized a fundamental truth decades ago while working at The Bishop Strachan School. Students thrive when parents actively engage in their learning. We needed a solution that benefited students and parents and teachers. It had to be simple. It had to be expeditious.

I investigated our environment and recognized a clear pattern. Simple tools give teachers more time to work with their students. Teachers then have more time to communicate with parents. I carried this philosophy into my work at Greenwood College School. I aligned our technology initiatives directly with the school's mission.

Where at Greenwood, parent support requests dropped by 80 percent as a direct result of this strategy. By providing a single portal for financial and academic and extracurricular information, the school dramatically improved communication and the end user experience. The result? Parents are engaged, teachers focus more on the student.

I believe this transformation is possible for all schools. You do not need deep resources or advanced technical skills to succeed. School leadership must look at the problem and recognize the true cost of inefficiency. Leaders can then achieve an outcome greater than the sum of their parts. It is essential to focus entirely on the student and parent experience rather than just the software features. The primary obligation remains simple; we must ensure students thrive and parents feel complete support.

A successful school mission that continues to grow and thrive focuses on the student rather than the adults. When considering this, an administrator should ask:

• Are colleagues working with students more than they execute administrative work?
• Is fundraising stewardship increasing alongside a rise in returning donors?
• Do leaders access clear reporting to make informed decisions?
• Does staff know student interests while maintaining a comprehensive view of their learning needs?

School leadership achieves these goals through simplified and connected solutions. They remove silos to give time back to educators. The results speak loudly across the educational landscape.

• Gonzaga College High School moved their summer packets online to save over 20000 dollars in printing costs and eliminate 700 paper files during admissions
• Ensworth School saved nearly 100 annual work hours during their busiest enrollment period by eliminating redundant data entry
• Trafalgar School for Girls reduced data entry tasks dramatically and saved an estimated 350 work hours a year while ensuring every parent accesses information easily
• Berwick Academy cut their vendor payment workload in half using automated payment approvals

Technology must elevate the community. School leadership sees remarkable improvements when they integrate their platforms.

• Calvert Hall College High School integrated learning tools to reduce the time teachers spend uploading rosters from hours to mere seconds
• Porter Gaud School cut donation entry time by more than half and increased receivables by over 10000 dollars using optimized giving forms
• Mulgrave School raised 100000 dollars for their community relief fund in just two months to support families during uncertain times

How does your school position itself as you work towards a more human centric system? Leaders who prioritize environments that align with the organizational mission play the long game. Imagine what your team could accomplish if they spent less time on data entry and more time on the mission of the school.