MARCH 2025 SIGNALS

Entering March and approaching the promise of spring break, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the incredible work you and your teams have been doing. 

During my onboarding year, I have witnessed this impact first-hand as I have been able to connect with heads in Little Rock, Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Miami, Charleston, Asheville, Columbia, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Montgomery, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Jackson, and Charlottesville. It has been incredibly rewarding to step into your local contexts and observe a steadfast commitment to student growth and a forward-thinking approach in mission-driven environments. In an era where leadership is increasingly complex, you continue to navigate these challenges with strength, grace, and resilience.

With the final quarter of the year now upon us, it’s an ideal moment to pause, reflect, and prepare for the opportunities ahead. As you gather with your team, take the time to think globally across your organization or focus on a specific initiative. Consider asking the following questions to help guide your reflection:

• What concrete details have emerged from the data collected throughout the 2024-2025 school year?
• What patterns, connections, or insights have surfaced?
• What questions does this information raise about our future actions?
• What proactive steps can we take to maximize our strengths and minimize potential challenges?

Informing your future steps, be sure to explore March’s Trend Tracker and Pulse Perspectives.

In this month’s Trend Tracker, we are highlighting the following signals and trends. Within each area, a number of clickable resources are available to research with your team. 

01 AI & Critical Thinking
02 Learner Engagement
03 Growth Mindset Habits
04 Leadership of Hope
05 High Potential
06 Governance Health
07 Transition Readiness
08 Brand Palette

Trend Tracker, March 2025

Reflecting real-time perspectives representing the voices in our association, we solicited feedback from SAIS heads in February to complete a pulse survey focused on challenges, retention & recruitment, and tuition. 

• Operational & Financial Pressures: School leaders are grappling with both day-to-day operational challenges and broader strategic financial pressures. Nearly half of respondents flagged issues like annual fund/capital campaign support (47.4%) and balancing daily demands with strategy (44.6%) as major challenges. Financial position/resource demands and tuition & affordability further underscore an acute focus on maintaining financial stability.

• Talent & Staffing Issues: Retention/recruitment of qualified staff is a concern, with 42.9% of respondents marking it as a top challenge. When asked about the barriers to faculty and staff retention and recruitment, 91.4% pointed to compensation & benefits, followed by workload challenges (51.7%) and a limited pool of qualified candidates (47.1%). 

See slide deck for full results.

Pulse Perspectives, March 2025

Coming Soon: Blueprint Sprint – Transforming Strategy into Reality

During the 2025-2026 school year, SAIS is bringing the Blueprint Sprint to six cities, sub-regionally across our association. As leaders juggle with the urgent and the important every day, the Blueprint Sprint is a two-day intensive designed to help independent school leadership teams move from vision to execution. This hands-on experience will provide practical tools, a structured blueprint, and dedicated time to work on a pressing strategic initiative for your school. Stay tuned for more details on dates and locations.

Thank you for your unwavering commitment to excellence in education. Hope you have a fun-filled, restorative spring break.

Dr. Brett Jacobsen
SAIS President