PLEASE NOTE: Due to overwhelming interest in the Fall 2022 Partner Group Cohort, all registrations received after July 1 will automatically be added to a waitlist. Waitlist members will be the first to be notified of any upcoming opportunities to join a cohort. Thank you for your interest!
This year has been full of joys and new challenges. NAIS research shows that school heads are experiencing loneliness, stress, and exhaustion. Even seasoned heads have reported that they’ve never seen anything like the past two-plus years. It is becoming harder and harder to serve as a head of school.
During the past year, the NAIS Strategy Lab team has been working with a small group of current and recently retired heads to imagine a new offering focused on providing heads with the support they need. We’ve run several prototypes and have learned a lot.
This fall, we are launching the next iteration, and we’re opening it up to all heads at NAIS member schools on a first-come-first-served basis. The NAIS Partner Group brings together 6–8 heads from similar schools that aren’t in the same market. Each cohort—who we refer to as partners—come together about once a month to discuss issues, explore complex challenges, celebrate wins, and enjoy stories from the field. A partner who is an experienced current or former head with training in coaching and facilitation leads each cohort .
Partner group gatherings are not meetings or professional development. They don’t have long agendas and don’t require any preparation. Rather, our goal is simply to create and hold a confidential space where partners can support each other. Simply put, it’s heads helping heads.
We understand that the NAIS Partner Group is not for everyone. We are looking for heads who seek deep connection with other heads; who are interested in giving as much as they receive; who feel somewhat isolated and are ready to be fully present in the space.
We are planning to run cohorts from September 2022 through February 2023. All of the cohort meetings will take place on Zoom, and all participants will be invited to an in-person gathering before the NAIS Annual Conference in February, in Las Vegas.
Cohort meetings will take place on Zoom on the following Tuesdays:
Kickoff meeting: September 27, 2022; 4:00–5:30 PM ET
October 25, 2022; 4:00–5:30 PM ET
November 15, 2022; 4:00–5:00 PM ET
December 13, 2022; 4:00–5:00 PM ET
January 24, 2023; 4:00–5:00 PM ET
Final meeting: February 14, 2023; 4:00–5:00 PM ET
Participants are also invited to an optional in-person happy hour at the 2023 NAIS Annual Conference in Las Vegas.
In addition to the monthly cohort meetings, three cross-cohort professional development sessions, on November 3, January 12, and February 2 from 4:00–5:30 PM ET, will be offered on building empathic leadership skills.
This opportunity is exclusively for heads of schools.
