- Set high standards
Recruit a diverse, visionary and hardworking board membership
Expect productive committees that set goals that advance the operational vitality of the school and reach them
Review and adhere to your governing documents or bylaws
Have well-run meetings with set agendas and conclude with assigned action items
Take educated risks to raise the teaching/learning standards to achieve excellence - Start your meetings right!
Pray before and after each meeting – we have much for which we are grateful
Take time to reflect on the lives of your fellow board members
Attend mass and notice the students who are in your respective school/s – acknowledge them as members of the parish community
Attend mass together as a board at least once a year
Attend a school liturgy
Participate in faith-in-action projects with your students - Take a field trip
Visit another Catholic school that is doing something that your school is not, for example, blended learning, implementing the Year of Faith, extending the school day, an effective middle school program
Share what you have learned with others on your board
Conduct a Competitive Analysis – determine what you do well and what needs improvement to be competitive - Model the effective use of technology
Use social media to communicate great things about your school
Use social media to learn about education
Post questions and ask for feedback
Support school communications
Set policies aligned with 21st Century Learning
Ask your administrator to share ways the school “properly manages online ethics without restricting the creativity and information flow of the shared learning environment” - Ask your administrators to explore new instructional models for possible implementation
Consider fiscal implications for adopting such a model
Consider the impact on enrollment - Monitor your school’s improvement/strategic plan
Ask for data to monitor goals
Post the plan on the web
Post the progress of your school as you work toward the goals
Post support for the progress being made
Post a summary of board meeting actions - Consider supporting new programs to encourage vocations
Form a partnership with a seminary or a novitiate
Ask students to pray for vocations on a regular basis
Ask that career fairs include positions that support our Church’s ministries
Establish a vocation wall of fame - Plan your budget based on technology with much less emphasis on textbooks
Read about new funding models for technology
Consider a Bring Your Own Device (Technology) policy
Seek partnerships to support these initiatives
Support partnerships for funding - Acknowledge and affirm excellence in your school
Ask for samples of student work
Invite students to attend your meeting to tell you what they are learning in classes
Invite teachers to attend your meeting to tell you what and how they are teaching
Showcase the school community’s digital fluency - Involve yourself in student recruitment
Call a parent and ask them to consider your school
Write a letter to the editor supporting your school
Go to online sources and rate your school (www.greatschools.org)
Serve as a school ambassador - Communicate with your stakeholders
Survey current and past parents, parishioners, business persons, faculty, students, etc.
Interview teachers and community members to find out what they are excited about and what they are concerned about - Continue your own education
Build time into your meeting to learn new things, for example, elements of a digital classroom, learn the importance of Christian Education from Vatican II, or take a look at National Standards for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools
Integrate faith formation including intellectual Catholic tradition as part of your continuing education program
Better understand and appreciate the evangelizing value of the school
This list has been adapted and modified from Ten Things School Board Members Should Do in 2013 by Vander Ark and was originally posted on ncea.org.
