Episode 88: Navigating Disruption through Collaboration

With Chad Tew

Available April 21, 2026

It’s no secret that independent schools face ongoing challenges, from enrollment to governance to changing norms and social pressures. The schools that continue to thrive are generally the ones that adapt and innovate without losing their sense of tradition and identity. But that’s certainly easier said than done, especially when solutions like mergers enter the picture. Chad Tew, “Chief Disruption Navigator” for LearnCollab, joins host Morva McDonald to talk about his views on the market and landscape for independent schools, why he thinks of merging as more of a unification process, and how different levels of collaboration can shore up school communities in disruptive times.

Guest: Chad Tew

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “One thing that is a challenge for schools, I think, is their governance model, and boards that are focused on kind of like, stability. And we're here to just kind of hold the mission for the future, which is true. And at the same time, sometimes that means that you're so focused on stability that you don't see the flip side of homeostasis, which is kind of apostasis. It's that idea that kind of like programmed, regulated cell death is what the real definition is, where any multicellular organism eliminates either damaged or unwanted or aged cells so that you can maintain a healthy balance. That's a challenge for independent schools.” (5:30)
• “I think every school should be thinking about a merger or some kind of collaboration. And sometimes some of the most exciting school collaborations come out of a strong school looking at opportunities where they can expand, by kind of helping out or absorbing or merging with another school. The word merger is something that can be scary to people. I like unification better, unifying two schools, unifying two faculties, two student bodies, two cultures, and how do you unify? So you think about it as like, you know, when two families come together, you know, as a result of a marriage, kind of. You want to try and set it up for success by thinking about unification instead of an up-down thing.” (20:28)

Related Episodes: 86; 74; 57; 38

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 87: Making How Matter

With Julie Williamson

Available April 14, 2026

Leadership sometimes feels like a lonely job with lots of competing tasks, but few clear guideposts. Even with the most meticulous planning, we often know conceptually what needs to happen, but falter in articulating how all the pieces will come together. Author, strategist, and consultant/coach Julie Williamson joins host Debra Wilson to talk about the challenges and opportunities of leadership, and what it means to make “how” matter in our work.

Guest: Julie Williamson

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “Changing how you lead means changing some deeply embedded habits about how you're showing up together as a leadership team. How you, as the head of the organization, how you're behaving and what you're doing in the organization to drive the strategy forward. If you're not transforming how you lead, you will not transform your organization, no matter how good the strategy is.” (7:31)
• “The hard things that you want to work on, whether you're a CEO or a head of school, the hard things you want to work on is how do we be in better service to our students, to our families, to our customers, whatever that looks like for you. You don't want the hard things that you're working on to be, got to go wrangle the board again, or I've got to go convince my team that this is the right direction to go. Right? That's not what you want to spend your time on. And that will cause turnovers.” (27:11)
• “So if a leader is feeling a real sense of anxiety or trepidation about meeting with the board in any way, in my mind, the board is failing. Because you should be creating an environment where whether it's good news or bad news, that person feels confident that they have a group of people who are there to support their success and that they are going to partner with them and hold them accountable, yes. You know, challenge them, yes, push them, yes, but make them feel small or make them feel anxious or make them feel unworthy of the role? No.” (31:53)

Related Episodes: Episode 77; 67; 65; 38; 25

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 86: Exploring Community Collaborations

With Guybe Slangen and Jennifer Cherney

Available April 7, 2026

As independent schools strive to ever expand their impact on their communities and the world, what creative models exist to help them achieve their public purpose? On this episode of New View EDU, host Morva McDonald invites Guybe Slangen of Horizons National to speak about the innovative summer programming the organization designs in collaboration with schools nationwide, expanding equity, access, and community spirit. They are also joined by Jennifer Cherney of the Gateway School in New York City, one of the local partners who can speak to the school experience of working with this unique model.

Guests: Guybe Slangen and Jennifer Cherney

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “You don't have to look far to the same headlines now, that we are still a divided nation. Opportunity is not equal for everybody. And then you put that in the context of these independent schools that are all mission driven. And every independent school, regardless of the context or the setting or the history, has, in their mission statement, some version of civic engagement, social impact, global citizenship, 21st century skills, you name it. I mean, that is what independent schools do. It's not just about educating the students while they are within the campus of that independent schools. No, you're setting them up for life, and also to be change makers in the greater community.” (12:19)
• “People really want to feel like they are part of the collective, that it's not just, and there is this old notion that, okay, if you're raising money for an independent school, you have people there that have deep pockets, you don't need my contribution. This is the kind of initiative that brings people to your door. Let's say I want to be able to contribute. I don't have $100,000 to give to you, but I do have something and I want to contribute. I want to be part of something.” (17:32)
• “We have a host of public school teachers, charter school teachers who obviously are coming into our program. They're more familiar with serving this population. Maybe they actually teach those same students during the school year. They're also seeing the benefits of this, you know, where it's smaller classrooms. There's more hands-on experience, with assistants, with literacy instructors, you know, and they're able to really kind of roll up their sleeves and focus in ways that unfortunately they just can't during the school year. So that's kind of also giving them this kind of renewed energy, renewed creativity, renewed sense of purpose.” (34:05)

Related Episodes: 85; 77; 74; 73; 69; 15

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.