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 - 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, which 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:
A substantial amount of insight and advice - one full essay per month and free previews on topics such as enrollment, communications, hiring and retention, plagiarism, change management, decision making, difficult conversations
Paid subscribers have all free content plus:
All the insight and advice - three full essays per month plus a full interview with an independent school pro on topics as described above, with access to the full archive
Narrated versions of posts you can listen to on the go
Tuesday thread on communications
Occasional invitations to join premium events
My deep gratitude - your subscription enables me to keep producing useful content for a wide range of schools and leaders.
Premium subscribers have all paid content plus:
Regular opportunities to connect directly with me (and guests)
Monthly communications directors cohort Zooms
Short virtual writing seminars offered several times a year on topics such as “Writing School Statements” and “Writing a Statement of Educational Philosophy” and “Developing Your Leadership Voice”
My deep gratitude - your subscription enables me to make the time to connect with all of you - and that brings me much joy!
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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