Welcome - Let’s Do Some Talking Out of School!
I’m Julie and I know it’s quite a time to be a private school leader - I used to be in your shoes. The pace of change is exhausting and just when you think you’ve solved one crisis, another comes around the corner. But yet, I know most people feel deeply fortunate to be working with kids since it means working with hope for the future.
This newsletter exists to help independent school leaders feel less alone, to surface honest concerns about the complicated world we navigate and to provide creative solutions and hope. I’m especially passionate about the potential for strategic communications to elevate our schools internally and externally. While the problems are significant and the solutions tricky, there’s lots of possibilities, large and small, once we embrace candor.
Every week, I’ll publish on a topic on leadership and school change, always including actionable advice and a good dose of humor. Once a month, I’ll talk to another independent school expert who’ll bring you their insights. My guests and I know where you’re coming from and we’re here to help. And as a bonus, once in a while I write personal essays about eldercare, deep midlife and navigating change. But usually funny. :)
I hope you’ll join us!
All posts are published on Fridays except for personal essays that are published on infrequent Tuesdays.
Free subscribers have access to:
One article or People Talking Q&A each week on topics such as leadership, enrollment, communications, governance, hiring and retention, change management, decision making, difficult conversations
Occasional personal essays published under “Stony Creek Diaries”
Paid subscribers have all free content plus:
Narrated versions of posts you can listen to on the go
Access to over 100 articles in the archive
Access to Zoom meetups during the academic year (approx: 6) on topics related to communications and leadership, open to communications professionals and heads of school
Occasional bonus content, such as timely advice at times when you’re looking for crisis communications guidance
My deep gratitude - your subscription enables me to keep producing useful content for a wide range of schools and leaders.
About Me
Julie Faulstich
After falling into boarding schools as a January dorm parent hire back in the mid-90s, I’ve gone on to lead major institutional change efforts in every area of school life. The original plan was to teach English and write novels but I fell in love with the psychology and strategy involved in management and how it can effect positive change for kids. I’m an organizational psychology junkie, a strategist communications evangelist and an incurable optimist about the transformative power of an independent school education. I founded Stony Creek Strategy in 2022 to support school leaders faced with complex challenges. My bona fides include being Head of the English Department, Academic Dean and Assistant Head at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Natick MA and Head at the Westover School, Middlebury, CT. I have a BA from Smith College and I’m finally putting my MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College to good use through this newsletter.
Housekeeping
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